Not Another SI Fic: Part 4
by Enigmatic Magus
Summary: After their adventures in Wing Commander, the Jupiter's Thunder and crew find themselves in the middle of a war far different than the last. Tokyo3 may have adequate protection from Angels, but can it handle this group? Evangelion COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

"Well... that was a hell of a trip," I mumbled, as space reasserted itself outside the viewports. Makoto smirked, and over my shoulder, I heard Nabiki snort once as she hovered over the communications officer.  
  
"So, where are we this time?" I asked, looking at the sensors station below me and to the left.  
  
"Stationary orbit around a planet... Earth, or this Universe's equivalent, My Lord. At least according to star charts. SHODAN and the Helm are working on achieving a geostationary orbit 'facing' the planet."  
  
"Kickass. What's Earth look like this time around?"  
  
"One moment, My Lord... once we've completed this orbit, we'll be able to.. There! Holographic representation coming up now."  
  
Standing, I made my way to the holoprojector as a large globe took shape in the air. I frowned as I failed to recognize any of the landmasses. Where Antarctica usually rested was a reddish body of water that faded to the standard oceanic blue, and floating above the projection the words "Axial Discrepancy Detected."  
  
"Holy..." Nabiki said, pointing to a lumpy island off the east coast of a large landmass, "That's Japan!"  
  
"What?" I asked, frowning as I realized its position, if not its shape was just about right. Stepping around the map, I realized that all the larger continents were where their analogues would be... if they each lost miles of coastal lands.  
  
"Antarctica melted?" Makoto asked, softly, crouching to look up at the remnants of the frozen continent.  
  
"Multiple electromagnetic contacts detected from the surface," SHODAN said, sounding somewhat smug, "Multiple encryption types detected, attempting to decrypt communications on frequencies commonly used by the world's militaries around the turn of the millenium."  
  
"Okay... can someone project outlines of where the coastlines would be on normal Earth?"  
  
"Yes, Lord Kyle."  
  
The holograph shivered for a second, and white lines appeared over the oceans where borders I'd expected were now, apparently, a couple hundred feet underwater.  
  
"Well... It's safe to assume we aren't in your universe, Mako-chan," I said, softly.  
  
"Where are we then?" Nabiki asked, straightening up and crossing her arms.  
  
"I don't know... I don't really recognize this... Well, maybe Waterworld, but that was completely submerged... despite the fact that there's not enough water on the earth to actually do that..."  
  
"So.. wait. You mean you have no clue where we are, whatsoever?"  
  
"Not really. I don't watch every show, read every book, play every game, and rent every movie... Hell, I'm actually rather picky about what I like."  
  
"Well.. shit," Nabiki said, to which I nodded. She frowned, and when I quirked a brow at her, she shrugged, "It's familiar, but I'm not sure why, yet," she said, shrugging. I nodded, and thrued to look at the wallscreen as SHODAN began speaking.  
  
"Interestingly, we've been detected and scanned by an unknown form of electromagnetic identification," SHODAN suddenly announced. "The scan originated somewhere on the island of Japan, and communications in the area have begun to increase... decryption complete."  
  
"So what're they saying?" I asked, after a moment of silence from the AI.  
  
"-think it's an orbital Angel?"  
  
"They detected your curse!?" Makoto asked, looking shocked.  
  
"I don't think-" I started, shutting up when the communications continued.  
  
"Possibly. Inform Misato and have them prep the Eva's... I'll see talk to Commander Ikari when he returns. Fuyutsuki out."  
  
"Signal origins confirmed. Both were within a city standard civillian communication channels continually refer to as Tokyo-3."  
  
"Tokyo... Evangelion." I hissed, looking at the holograph and scowling, "of all the lousy places... a damned mecha series."  
  
"You know where we are?" Makoto asked, following me as I stormed over to my chair.  
  
"Yeah, not as much as I suppose I should, but I know the series.. or know of it."  
  
"So... you've never seen it?" Nabiki asked, smirking.   
  
"There's been a sudden drop in power output from the Tokyo-3 area," SHODAN stated, suddenly.   
  
I glanced at the earth, then shook my head, not really caring, "a couple clips in anime music videos," I continued, "a crapload of merchandise... Rei Ayanami's home series.. and... I know there's a guy, Gendo Ikari, who I think is a bad guy..."  
  
"How informative," Nabiki mumbled.   
  
She opened her mouth to say more, but I cut off her beratement before it could go anywhere, "hey! I just know there are giant robots. I dislike giant robots... to the point of hating them."  
  
"Aww, whats wrong, someone hit you over the head with a transformer when you were a kid?" Nabiki asked, trying to lighten the mood. I just growled at her, then looked out the window as the Earth moved into view. I knew the ship was rotating and not the Earth, but since I couldn't feel the motion, it looked more like the planet was moving.  
  
"I remember reading that the end of the series was pretty bad..."  
  
"Bad like, nothing was resolved?" Makoto asked.  
  
"No, bad like, there are only two human beings left on the planet," I said, frowning. Makoto and Nabiki both remained silent at that, and I nodded, "yeah."  
  
"Are you sure that's how it ends, though?" Nabiki asked.  
  
"No. I read that in a fic... but since other parts from series I know were referred to correctly, It wouldn't be too big a surprise if that was right... damned mecha..."  
  
"Well, maybe we have to prevent that?" Makoto suggested, looking out the window at the changed Earth.  
  
"Why?" I muttered, staring at the Earth. Nabiki scowled, and I sighed, "Fine, fine, lets.. beam on down, and say hello," I muttered, standing up.  
  
"I'm going to check something... I might be able to..." Nabiki mumbled, walking out of the bridge before I could question her. I shrugged, then turned towards Archer, "You, Bowen, and another, going down."  
  
"Yes, Milord."  
  
Fifteen minutes later, A row of metal, garage-style doors materialized in front of me. Turning, I nodded to Makoto and the Officers I'd taken with us. SHODAN had beamed us in to the origin of the original communications.  
  
The doors were all painted with a funky half-leaf and NERV, which I dimly recalled as the name of the main organization in the series. A moment later a blue car pulled up to a slightly wider door that was likely meant for vehicles. Instead of swiping a card in the prominent reader, she looked at us and frowned.  
  
"What are you five doing here? This is a restricted area."  
  
I blinked, wondering how to start this. Cocking my head to the side lightly, I decided on finding out if she was the person SHODAN had mentioned we look for, "Are you... 'Misato?'"  
  
"That's Captain Katsuragi, of NERV, to you."  
  
"Oh.. sorry, Captain. I'm the owner of that ship in orbit you were called in about. I figured I'd come down and talk to you all before you did anything rash."  
  
"Anythin..." she stared at me blankly for a moment, then frowned, "Look, kid, I don't know what kind of joke you're playing, but you're trespassing on-"  
  
"Damnit, I hate this series already! SHODAN, six to the Thunder, and arm the bridge crew."  
  
"Wha-" Captain Katsuragi's complaint was cut off as all of us dissapeared, reappearing on the Thunder's bridge a moment later.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL... just... hap..." the purple-haired Captain trailed off as she realized she was looking down the barrel of a blasters. I wasn't sure she recognized their design, but their intent I knew, was rather obvious to anyone with any experience with firearms.  
  
"Well, Captain... welcome to the Jupiter's Thunder," I said, smiling. Tearing her eyes away from the weapon, she looked at me, her eyes widening in recognition, before she suddenly looked past me, and at the Earth beyond.  
  
"OH MY GOD! ARE WE IN SPACE?" She shouted, making me wince. I nodded, and she paled, looking around, seeing the bridge for the first time, before looking back at me.  
  
"But.. are you human?"  
  
"I hope so..."  
  
"Then.. but... " she suddenly paled more, " I'm dead, aren't I?"  
  
I blinked, "Umm... no. Like I said, you're on the Jupiter's Thunder, my ship."  
  
"But... Shinji! I have to go back," she suddenly said.  
  
"Well, can you assure us you and NERV won't attack if we let you go back?"  
  
"Not attack? You just kidnapped me!"  
  
"You were about to blow me off! What was I supposed to do?"  
  
"Call... our Public Affairs office is listed in the phone book," she said with a straight face. Makoto started snickering at that, I just sighed.  
  
"I'm so glad you're thinking this through clearly, Captain.. err.. "  
  
"Katsuragi," she said, frowning at our mirth.  
  
"Right... Misato Katsuragi?"  
  
"Captain Katsuragi. Operations Director at NERV. I-"  
  
"Sudden spike on the bio-sensors, Kyle," SHODAN interrupted. An officer at the sensors station suddenly shouted in surprise, before turning to me.   
  
"My Lord, something huge just appeared outside that Tokyo-3 City. Whatever it is, it's registering as alive..."  
  
"Can you get me a visual?" I said, turning towards the large screen on the rearward wall. It flickered to life, and I gasped. It looked like some sort of Daddy-long-legs spider, only it had four legs, instead of eight, and it's body was covered in eyes.  
  
"An Angel," Misato gasped. I snorted, "hardly, that looks more like a demon to me." Misato shot me an 'are-you-stupid' look, and I frowned.   
  
"You have to send me back. I'm needed at NERV."  
  
"But.. is that thing a problem?"  
  
"A problem? Where the hell have you been the past few months?" she shouted, not noticing the weapons-carrying officers stiffen behind her.  
  
"In another universe! Next stupid question?"  
  
"... Stu.. what the hell is wrong with you all?"  
  
I rolled my eyes, "weapons, light turbolaser blast that thing," I said, turning back to the screen.  
  
Behind me there was a flash as one of the batteries fired, and on screen, a green bolt of energy shot down at the creature, only to be stopped by an invisible shield a dozen or so meters above it.  
  
"Target is shielded," the weapons officer said.  
  
"SHODAN, anything from.. err.. NERV?"  
  
"All communications in the Tokyo-3 area ceased during the power failure... Sensors indicate the NERV center you acquired the Captain from is currently without power."  
  
"What's that thing keep saying?" Misato asked, looking up for hidden speakers. Apparently, the Captain didn't understand English as well as I'd imagined an officer would.  
  
"NERV is powerless, at the moment."  
  
"NERV is the only hope humanity has! Better than that puny gun your ship is packing," Misato said, scowling. I glared at her, then spun towards the sensors officer.  
  
"How for outside the city is that 'Angel?'"  
  
"A little over a kilometer and a half. But it's moving fast, and there's an underground structure a kilometer in it's path, on the edge of the city."  
  
"Fine, Weapons, heavy barrage."  
  
"Yes, Milord."  
  
Turning to the window, I grinned as suddenly the right side of the ship reached out with over a dozen beams of green light, all heading for the Angel. Turning back to the screen, I watched as the thing's shield managed to stop about half the shots before they suddenly ran through the space the shield had occupied, and burned through the creature's body.  
  
"My god..." Misato said, wobbling slightly.   
  
Smiling smugly at her, I decided to gloat, "at eleven miles in length, if you think I'd have only one light turbolaser, you aren't much of a military officer."  
  
"I.. do you know what this means?" Misato asked, rhetorically. Suddenly, she straightened up and turned to me, bowing, "I'm sorry."  
  
"Um... what?" I asked, surprised by her sudden sincerity.  
  
"I.. no, NERV, is in your debt. You stopped an angel without using an Eva, or suffering anything more than a few craters in the country side."  
  
"Oh.. well.. now we're talking." I said, grinning. Misato looked out the window at the Earth outside, and then turned to the ceiling.  
  
"Was that teleportation you used to get me up here so fast?"  
  
"Yes," SHODAN responded. Misato nodded, and then turned to look at me, "Can you get me into NERV? I have to tell them about... this," she said, looking around at the bridge again.  
  
"Umm... I suppose. Can we come with you?"  
  
"Well, not usually, but I doubt there's much we can do to stop you, so It's probably better if you do come with me..." She said, sounding uncertain, but resigned to her fate as a tour-guide.  
  
"Keen. SHODAN?"  
  
"One moment... power has yet to be restored. Teleporting in would be unwise, as the sensors detected powered doors inside NERV. However, when power was up, the structure was shielded so much the Thunder's teleportation system couldn't penetrate much more than four levels. I suggest going to the surface, and having the Captain escort you in once power is restored."  
  
"Right. To the shuttle bay."  
  
"My Lord?" Captain Archer asked, suddenly.  
  
"What? I beam around all the time. I'd like to try out the shuttle. Besides, with a TIE-Fighter escort, I can rest assured that, even if SHODAN can't reach us, we still have an upper hand."  
  
"Understood, Lord Kyle. Your shuttle will be ready when you arrive at the bay."  
  
"Alright.. lets go see," I paused, scowling, "the robots."  
  
As we made our way down the black reflective corridors, passing saluting officers and enlistees frozen at attention, Misato was apparently impressed.  
  
"Woooow.... Ooooh!" and other 'I'm-impressed' sounds and words escaped her lips. Finally, she turned to me, "So that creepy voice that only speaks in english... who's that?"  
  
"Oh, that's SHODAN. The ship's computer."  
  
"That's an AI? It sounds... err... umm," she trailed off, probably realizing SHODAN could hear her.  
  
"Yeah, I programmed her that way... She does an exelent job though, and her voice, unlike standard AI voices, is easy to distinguish."  
  
"No kidding." the Captain grumbled, watching a mouse droid as it wheeled by.  
  
Arriving in the Hangar Bay, I made my way towards my shuttle, surprised to see a string of TIE-Defenders slowly loop by outside the force field. Shrugging it off, and gently reminding Misato that we had to get her back to NERV, our group crowded into the shuttle's passenger area, which, I realized upon entering, wasn't at all as I'd expected.  
  
From my limited experience with these shuttles, I remembered, or, really, had thought I remembered the seating being lined up against the wall bench-like, with a narrow corridor in between them. However, this shuttles was carpeted, the large, conforter-style seats upholstered in black leather, and to the side was a small drink bar and fruit stand that sat inside an aesthetically-pleasing transparisteel storage bin.  
  
"Cushy," Misato mumbled. I nodded.  
  
"Remind me why we never take the shuttle around?" Makoto asked.   
  
"Honestly? I don't know... but that's going to change, I think," I replied, softly. Captain Archer informed us that there were a couple small beds in the back, and we all took our seats.  
  
"Wait!" Someone shouted from outside. a moment Later, Nabiki came up the ramp, a folder full of papers in one hand, and a cocky grin on her face. Before she'd finished strapping in, the ramp had started closing.  
  
With a rumble, the shuttle lifted off, and began it's trip down to Tokyo-3.  
  
"So, Nabiki.. nice of you to join us," I said. She smiled at me, then nodded to Misato, before grinning at Makoto and handing me the papers.  
  
"And these are...?" I asked, flipping the file open. At first glance, I knew they were printed webpages, the adress at the bottom of the page indicating Nabiki'd pulled them from my computer's history folder.. then I realized what I was looking at.  
  
"Hey! Character summaries? Episode guides? Why-"  
  
"Why'd I have this stuff?" Nabiki asked, finishing my sentence for me. I nodded, and her smile grew predatory, "unlike you, I didn't write off this series due to it's... title characters. Considering how many people on your world thought it was the ultimate series, I thought I'd check up on it... and I'm glad I did."  
  
I grunted, a grudging note of acceptance, and started skimming the papers, frowning when I got to the later episodes, and quirking a brow when I read the summary of episodes 25 and 26.  
  
"What the hell?"  
  
"Yeah, apparently, a lot of people said that, because the next page contains a movie summary, which... well.. you were right."  
  
Flipping to the next page, I quickly skimmed the summary, shooting Misato a blank look as I read about her death, then blanching as I realized just what I likely had to look forward to if I didn't intervene.   
  
"Great... interfere, or it's LCL for everyone... Third Impact?" I said, suddenly, looking up at Nabiki. She nodded, and I went back to reading, ignoring the gurgle Misato made. I remembered the term 'Second Impact' from somewhere, and figured the End of Evangelion's somewhat apocalyptic ending was obviously another one of those 'Impact' things.  
  
"Would you mind explaining what the hell you two are talking about?" Misato growled, finally. Glancing up from the character bios, I caught Nabiki's eye, then nodded towards Misato, before continuing.  
  
Nabiki began explaining our origins to an attentive and apprehensive Misato, and Makoto started reading the papers I'd already looked at, while I finished reading up on the characters.  
  
"Geeze," I said, sitting back when I'd finished reading the last page, "what a motley crew... does anyone in this series not have problems, or a shitty past?"  
  
Misato shot me a nasty look, but turned back to Nabiki, and I grimaced slightly as I remembered her scarring past.  
  
"Damn." Makoto said, as she finished reading. I nodded, her summary not at all dissimilar to mine. "So, how should we do this?"  
  
"Well... I dunno... I doubt we should charge in recklessly, but, yeah, we need to do something."  
  
"Can I...?" I glanced up at Misato, who was staring at the papers Makoto had placed back inside the folder Nabiki had handed them to us in, and I frowned.  
  
"I dunno... it's not.. well... it's not good," I said. Misato frowned, and I sighed, "Well.. do you believe everything Admiral Tendo just told you, about... well.. us?"  
  
"Not totally, but the proof," she said, looking around her at the shuttle we were in, "is a bit hard to dispute. And if I'm listed in those papers anywhere, I can quickly figure out if they're right or not."  
  
"True," Nabiki mumbled. Glancing at Makoto, who just shrugged, I handed the bundle to the Captain, wondering how she'd react. After a few minutes of reading, in which her expression went from one extreme to the other, she looked up and wiped a tear from one eye.  
  
"If this is true..." she said, softly, clencing the papers so tightly her knuckles were white, "If... Commander... Sub Commander... hell, even Ritsuku are... and Rei! Not to mention..." she trailed off, and I could feel her tensing all over, before she finally sighed.  
  
"If this is true..." She said, turning to me. I just nodded softly, and she let out a big breath of air before throwing her head back and staring at the ceiling, unmoving.  
  
"All this time I've been working to stop this from happening, and now... Everyone I take orders from seems to want it to happen."  
  
"Well, now you know most of the important tidbits, right?" Nabiki offered, helpfully. Misato gave a short bark of cynical laughter, before turning to look at her, "I doubt I can convince the UN of Commander Ikari's intentions with a bunch of papers..."  
  
"Not really," Nabiki said, taking the papers and pointing to a paragraph, "if your ex's package to Gendo was Adam, like it says here, then Gendo probably already has the first Angel implanted in his hand."  
  
Misato nodded, then looked down at the papers again, "Well.. with... err... 'Lillith' in the basement, and Commander Ikari's hand, that should be enough to start an investigation..." she said, slowly.  
  
"There you go. Your best bet is to give this to," I took a paper and skimmed it quickly for the name, "Kaji, since he's a double agent working for Japan."  
  
Misato growled, but before I could say anything, the intercom squaked, "Lord Kyle, we're approaching the designated structure. There appears to be a flat surface for vertical arial transports, would you prefer to land there?"  
  
"Err.. one second," I said, before turning to Misato, "can the Helipad on NERV handle this shuttle?"  
  
"What?" She asked, frowning at me. Switching to Japanese, I repeated my question.  
  
"Probably," She replied. Quickly giving the pilot approval, I turned back to her, "You know... how is it that you can't understand English, but you can read it?"  
  
She frowned at me, "I can read it because everyone in Japan is taught how to read English, and a lot of the papers I recieve from the UN aren't translated. However, conversational English..." she trailed off, and I nodded.  
  
"So, you sort of understand what we're saying?"  
  
"Sometimes. Your AI is really hard to understand, and, as I'm sure you complained while learning Japanese, you all talk too fast."  
  
"Err.. something like that," I said, looking towards the boarding ramp as the shuttle shuddered once.  
  
With a hiss, the ramp began to lower, and Misato made her way out first, yelling something to the guards who'd more than likely appeared when they realized the shuttle was landing. They lowered their weapons slowly as she spoke, and then she turned and waved us down.  
  
Walking out into the sunlight, I grinned at the guards, who looked at us warily, then to Misato, who was whispering to the guard standing by the door. After a moment, the guard nodded and headed inside, and Misato made her way back over towards us.  
  
"What's up?" I asked, nonchalantly.  
  
"Alerting the guards inside that you are coming in, and not to impede us," she replied. I shrugged, then followed her through the door.  
  
"Oh.. right... powerless... on second," I said, digging out my communicator and calling the ship. A moment later a set of flashlights appeared at our feet, and I grinned, handing them out before flipping them on.  
  
"Ouch! Damnit, don't shine that in my eyes! It's like looking at the sun!" Nabiki said, when I turned mine on. Misato snorted softly before heading down the stairs, the rest of us following her quietly.  
  
NERV, apparently, enjoyed automated systems, as SHODAN had mentioned, because every hundred feet or so we'd have to manually open thick metal doors that looked like something I'd be more likely to find in space.  
  
When questioned, Misato shrugged, "It's for security purposes," then she stopped and pointed at the stack of papers in my hand, "According to that, these are rather useful, so I don't see much reason for complaint."  
  
Archer bristled, but I waved him back, smiling at the Captain, "don't worry, Captain Katsuragi, when this is all over, this entire structure should be rendered useless... though what is done with it is up to.. whoever's left in charge."  
  
With a shrug, she continued downward into the building, ocasionally passing a guard who nodded once and let us by.  
  
"Misato, how'd that guard alert everyone if all the doors we've come to are closed?" Nabiki asked, after the third guard.  
  
"Radios. Unfortunately, with all the metal reinforcing the walls, their range is limited inside unless the MAGI amplify them, so the guard I sent off is running arounf the perimeter radioing inside, and havint the guards inside relay that message further in, and down."  
  
Finally, we reached a door that didn't have a manual override.  
  
"This is the main door to the Eva cages... But..."  
  
"Hey, this grate's been ripped off the wall.. think someone went this way?" Makoto said, pointing towards a duct on the wall.  
  
"I'm not sure..." Misato said, as Captain Bowen started inside. A moment later, Nabiki had entered, then Makoto, quickly followed by me, Misato, and finally Archer.  
  
"Someone's come this way recently. the dust has been disturbed by... three people. Kids, from the size of the marks," Captain Bowen called back.  
  
"I guess the kids read their emergency instructions," Misato mumbled, before yelling forward, "Follow the tracks, and we should come to the Cages!"  
  
I resisted the urge to kick her in the head for screaming in the duct, and started moving as Makoto began again.  
  
"There's a drop here... and voices coming from below."  
  
"Who's up there?" Someone called from ahead.  
  
"It's Me, Katsuragi, and.. err.. Guests. We're coming out!" Misato yelled. A moment later she yelped as I 'accidentally' crushed her fingers. Moving foward, I watched Makoto look below for a moment before dropping to the floor below, then I crawled to the edge of the duct and jumped myself, landing in a crouch.  
  
The effect, however, was ruined as Misato plummeted on top of me, sending both of us to the floor in a heap.  
  
"Have you been drinking at all?" I asked, finally, scowling as I climbed to my feet.  
  
"Not enough," Misato grumbled, making her way over to a blonde in a lab coat. I stared at her, wondering whether I should be surprised or not, then shrugged, folling after dusting myself off.  
  
"Misato, what the hell do you think you're doing, bringing civillians in here at a time li-"  
  
"Can it, Akagi, I've had a pretty good day go downhill in a hurry, and I'm fairly certain it's going to get worse before it gets better."  
  
"Ak- What the hell happened?" The blonde asked, obviously surprised by the outburst.  
  
"Everything... or should I say, everything's going to happen," Misato spat, looking around the room suspicously.  
  
"Well, I don't know what happened, but we've got a possible Angel in high orbit, and the damn thing is-"  
  
"Eleven miles long, yeah, I know. I was just there. And it's not an Angel. But it killed one in about ten seconds," Misato said, walking over towards a big blue piece of machinery.   
  
At least, at first glace I thought it was machinery. I gasped as I realized it was a giant armored head; an Eva's head. Misato was cut off suddenly by a lightly-bearded figure in black.  
  
"C-Commander?" Misato said, straightening up. Glancing at the figure, who, to my surprise, was wearing a pear of sunglasses in the darkened room, I got my first glimpse of Gendo Ikari. He was tall, though not as tall as me, but just as lanky as I was, though he hid it well in his uniform.  
  
Glancing at the guards, Gendo nodded, and they stepped forward, weapons raised. Looking around, I realized, as did Makoto, Nabiki, Archer and Bowen, that we were surrounded.   
  
"Not so fast, Ikari," I said, stepping in front of Makoto. Gendo looked at me, his expression never changing, and I smirked, ignoring the ice in my stomach, "Before you drag us away, maybe you should tell everyone about your pet project downstairs.. or tell your son where his mother is... or maybe, you can tell us all why you have the first angel grafted to the palm of your hand."  
  
Ritsuka gasped behind me, and Misato glared at the Commander, now that his gaze wasn't on her. Gendo, thanfully, had frowned, and I smiled more, "As soon as I'm done here, I'm going after SEELE, too, so don't think I don't know about your friends, either."  
  
"Kill them," Ikari said, siftly. I winced, leaping twoards a thick group of guards and seeing Makoto do the same out of the corner of my eye. Nabiki, apparently having expected as much, had dragged Ritsuko to the floor, and Bowen and Archer were both firing, red blaster fire dropping guards before they could thrun the safeties off on their weapons.   
  
Landing behind three guards, I quickly dispatched them with a hard blow to the back of the head, and a slight shudder when they hit the deck with a thud.  
  
"Hope you're just sleeping," I muttered, leaping at another group, a moment before I heard the first bullet fly.   
  
As quick as Makoto and I were, and as good as Bowen and Archer were with their weapons, when the last guard fell, and someone shouted "Hold it!" we all turned as one to see Gendo standing, arm outstretched, pointing a pistol at Makoto, who paled slightly.  
  
"Resisting arrest," Gendo said, before he grinned. I Crouched to dive, moving as fast as I could, but I knew I was already too late when the weapon went off before I'd even left the ground.  
  
-----------------------------  
  
Authors Notes: Holy geeze... been a while, eh? Sorry about that. Been busy.. and going to get busy in the future soon, too... but I couldn't leave everyone hanging forever, so I decided to start on this, in hopes that it keeps me thinking about things other than "real life.  
  
As for this one.. well.. being utterly clueless about Evangelion back when I started writing this, I thought it'd be fun to do an SI into a series my avatar had no real understanding of... I kind of chickened out and gave myself a cheat-sheet of sorts, but still, my avatar doesn't KNOW the characters like I do, and as such... well... There will be trouble ahead... and of course, I'll endeavour to resolve this cliffhanger... eventually. Heh. 


	2. Chapter 2

"NO!" I shouted, lunging at Gendo, and knowing there was no way I could get there fast enough. Before both my feet had even left the ground, I saw the flash, and a tongue of flame fly from the end of the barrel, and my vision went red.   
  
Right before I could plant my fist somewhere behind his eyes, he crumpled, and I suddenly found myself fighting momentum to avoid knocking Misato's head off.   
  
Misato was still glaring at Gendo when I landed, and I spun, running to where everyone was crowding...  
  
"Makoto!" I shouted, elbowing my way through the crowd. Instead of seeing my wife lying in a growing pool of blood, I saw her sitting there, tears streaming down her face, and Captain Bowen lying in a slowly growing pool of blood.  
  
Captain Bowen looked up at Makoto, her weak, ragged breaths growing shallower, and smiled, before closing her eyes and slumping to the deck.  
  
"Move it!" someone said, before pushing me roughly aside. Turning back, I saw Dr. Akagi expertly examine the Captain, before she sighed and turned towards Makoto, "The bullet severed her aorta... there's nothing we could have done."  
  
Turning towards Misato, Ritsuko stood up, scowling, "Would you please mind telling me what the hell is going on, Katsu- Misato?"  
  
Misato wobbled on her feet, and she looked at Akagi blankly before frowning, "Ow.." then she stumbled to the floor.  
  
"Misato!" Dr. Akagi shouted, running to her friend and rolling her over, exposing a bloody wound in her gut. Suddenly all the lights turned on.  
  
"Shit," the blonde doctor said, putting pressure on the wound. Turning to me, she shouted, nodding her head towards a red phone on the wall, "Dial 76, and tell them to send a stretcher to the Cage."  
  
I nodded, glancing at Makoto before hurrying over to the phone and doing as asked.  
  
"What is the nature of the em-"  
  
"Gunshot wounds, damnit. Get down here NOW!"  
  
After I hung up the phone I glanced at Ritsuko and Misato, before joining Makoto and Nabiki near the fallen Captain. The next few minutes went by in a blur as we waited for the medical personell to appear, everyone standing around in obvious shock.   
  
Finally, the Medical team arrived, along with another half-dozen guards.  
  
"Shit," I mumbled, when they all turned their weapons on us.  
  
A couple hours later, I found myself sitting in a darkened cell, the NERV logo on the wall behind my bench/bed, and an abundance of time on hand to kill. Or so I thought; the door suddenly opened, and I turned to see Ritsuko and a gray-haired man enter, both of them frowning.  
  
"Time to question me, eh?" I asked, looking at the door behind them and wondering how hard it would be to get past two noncombatants. Ritsuko scowled, then glanced over her shoulder at the door, "There are six guards ordered to fire on anyone who leaves this room without calling them, first. Don't think about it."  
  
"Right," I mumbled, looking back at the floor, "How's your friend?"  
  
"That's classified," the blonde said, before waving a packet of papers at me. I recognized them as the papers I'd brought with me, and grimaced when I realized the older man was probably Fuyutsuki.  
  
"Great, the two people who want this Third Impact to happen get to interrogate me," I mumbled.  
  
"I Don't know what you're talking about. NERV is the only protection humanity has from the Angels. We're doing everything we can to STOP Third Impact."  
  
"Yeah? so why, then, do those papers tell a different story?"  
  
"That's what we're here to find out. Everything listed up to today's events in here are totally correct... How you got all this infirmation, and why you bundled it like this is something we'll get back to."  
  
"Oh, cut the crap. You read the whole sheath of papers, just like I did. If you're even half as compitent as that brief bio says, you at least checked Gendo's hand."  
  
'That's-"  
  
"Classified? Great. Who'm I going to tell, the wall?"  
  
"I-"  
  
"And another thing, I said, standing up as I cut her off again, "That 11 mile ship in orbit is probably going to wonder where I am, soon-"  
  
"No ship of that size or type has ever been built! Whatever that thing is-"  
  
"You're stupid." I said, sitting back down. Both of them bristled at that, and I sighed.  
  
"Okay, then, fine. I'll talk... if you give me a glass of water."  
  
"Just water," Fuyutsuki said, turning around and calling to the guards outside before leaving.   
  
Ritsuko, still an angry red, glared down at me, before she began, "from what your accomplices could tell us, you all are here to instigate a mutiny, and have somehow brainwashed Captain Katsuragi to assist you."  
  
"How... one-sided. Look, Doctor, it's readily apparent from those papers that Fuyutsuki and Gendo are working together to bring about their own version of Third Impact, contrary to what SEELE and the Angels want."  
  
"These papers are speculation! If they were true, you'd have to be a spy, or.. or..." she waved the papers at me, her focus growign distant as she searched for another possibility.  
  
"...or?" I prompted.   
  
Ritsuko growled, then continued, quietly, "Or... from the future. If you were, then how'd you survive the Third Impact listed here?" She asked, clenching her fist around the file.  
  
"Surely the others told you about our origins," I said, evenly.  
  
"Right... all of you are from some sort of 'alternate universe' where this is all just a.. an ENTERTAINMENT series," she said, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Oh, come on, Doctor. Look at us; go ask your MAGI to look at my ship. I mean, really. Can you honestly tell me that some government has been hiding our existance?"  
  
"The US could," she said, sounding as unconvinced as I was.   
  
I laughed, before explaining, "the US could, if they wanted to go under. That starship's cost is similar to the GNP of several solar systems in an intergalactic economy."  
  
"Inter-" Ritsuko sputtered, glaring at me, "Fine, since every one of you want to play this stupid little game, I'll bite. Why then, are you here, instead of.. well, wherever it is you belong?"  
  
"Well.." I paused, surprised she was going to listen, "actually, that's a good question... let's see..." And I began explaining my story to her, while she waited patiently for me to finish.  
  
"-and that's how I came to be sitting here in this cell," I said, taking a sip of the water for the first time. Fuyutsuki had returned around the Universal-Rewrite of the Ranma Universe, and had listened as intently as Doctor Akagi while I continued. The only thing I failed to mention was my curse, hoping I could keep it my little ace-in-the-hole if nothing else worked.  
  
"So... you're sayign you're the only REAL person of the group, then? Everyone else is from some animated series?"  
  
"Well.. Kind of. The Thunder isn't from an animated series, though," I said, honestly.  
  
"Right... this has got to be THE most creative... DELUSION I've ever heard," Fuyutsuki muttered to Akagi, just loud enough for me to hear him.   
  
I frowned, "look, if you don't believe me, call the Thunder; SHODAN's monitoring all your transmissions and already broke your encryption about two minutes after we arrived."  
  
"Right. That's more than likely some way to get a second team a message to try and invade."  
  
I rolled my eyes, "not really.. I suppose it doesn't matter, though. Eventually they'll come looking for us, and with 38,000 thousand soldiers aboard, I suppose all I really have to do is wait," I said, nonchalantly. Both Ritsuko and Fuyutsuki paled, and I pretended to ignore it as I continued, "just as well, what with 144 fighters, and almost half of those capable of firing proton torpedos, various All-Terrain Walkers, and, of course, World Devestator droids, I'm fairly certain SHODAN will have little trouble... though I feel for you if she decides to Base Delta Zero the planet..."  
  
"Base Delta Zero?" Dr. Akagi asked, looking somewhat apprehensive about the answer.  
  
"Orbital Bombardment... burn off the atmosphere, and crater the face of the planet. Takes a while, I'd assume, but if an Imperial-class Star Destroyer can do it, I'm positive an Executor-class can do it faster."  
  
"But... you're bluffing," Fuyutsuki said, apparently more shaken than Ritsuko. I sighed.  
  
"Not really, no. I haven't lied since we started talking, actually. But I DO want to go, so I guess I'll have to do this the drastic way... And I was beginning to like this place, since they weren't real mechs... "  
  
Taking the glass of water, I splashed myself, feeling the familiar shift in form, and hoping the slits in my shirt would accomodate my wings...   
  
"Huh?" I mumbled, looking over my shouder. My wings were nowhere to be seen, and I frowned, before remembering that they didn't appear until there was a marked change in my disposition. Thinking unhappy thoughts, I turned to the two standing in my way with as dark a glance as I could muster, feeling my shirt move as my wings burst free, this time without taking my shirt with them.  
  
"A.. an Angel," Ritsuki whispered in terror.   
  
I just shrugged, "gotta go!"  
  
Jumping over the two stunned figures, and stepping out into the hallway, I grinned at the guards, who dropped their weapons and ran when they caught a good look at me. A moment later an alarm suddenly began sounding, red lights flashing inside their wire cages, and electronic doors slamming shut at both ends of the hallway I was in.  
  
"Ahh... forgot about that. Um..." I muttered, looking around. I was standing beside a door similar to the one I'd just exited, and pulled it open, exposing...  
  
"Kyle?"  
  
"Expecting someone else, Nabiki? Lets find the others and get out of here before SHODAN sends down some help."   
  
"Sure," the Tendo said, before turning towards the next door. In short order, we managed to group up, and surround Fuyutsuki and Ritsuko, who couldn't seem to tear their gaze off of me.  
  
"... the hell? Stop staring!" I yelled, before adding quietly, "It's rude." When they didn't comply, I sighed, and pointed at them, making them tremble, visibly. "Where's our stuff?" I asked, trying to make my rather angelic voice sound angrier than I really felt.  
  
"We'll never tell you, Angel," Ritsuko hissed. I rolled my eyes, then turned towards the door at the end of the hall.  
  
"Makoto... think you can shock that door open?"  
  
"Yeah," she replied, pulling out her transformation stick.  
  
Makoto quickly transformed into Sailor Jupiter, earning another surprised gasp from Ritsuko, and causing Fututsuki to waver before collapsing on the bench.  
  
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"  
  
The blast of condenced electrical energy hit the door, and, to everyone's surprise, it exploded, a blast of flame and fragments of metal flying back at us. Before I could think about it, my hands were up, and a wall of orange, transparent concentric hexagons appeared between the blast and our group, stopping the blast from reaching us.  
  
"An AT Field," Ritsuko spat, as if it explained everything. I just blinked.   
  
"I didn't know you could do that," Nabiki said. I shrugged as a new siren joined the other one, this one sounding a bit more urgent.  
  
As the smoke cleared, I nodded at Makoto, who simply shrugged back before running through the demolished door.  
  
"Hey!" Nabiki called, standing in the opening. Both of us turned around, and she put her hands on her hips, "do you two know where you're going?"  
  
I opened my mouth to tell her the obvious answer, then stopped when I realized I wasn't even sure where, exactly, we were.   
  
"Thought not.. Captain Archer, grab blondie there, and have her lead us to our stuff, and out of here."  
  
Archer complied, and I turned towards the hall we'd just started down, wondering why, now that I wasn't headed that way, I felt compelled to continue in that direction.  
  
"Hey, Doctor.. what's down that way?" I asked, pointing over my shoulder.  
  
Ritsuko scowled, "Don't expect any help from me, Angel."  
  
I rolled my eyes, then turned back that way, thinking for a moment, before I frowned,"it's that middle Dogma, isn't it?" I turned towards the hole once more, thinking out loud.  
  
"Central Dogma," Nabiki mumbled.  
  
"If Lillith is down there, and Adam is in Gendo's hand... then... SEELE must want an Angel to touch Lillith. And from what I read in those papers, The Angels think Lillith is Adam , so... they want to merge with him?"  
  
"Kyle.. what the hell are you thinking about this now for?" Nabiki asked, as I slowly continued towards Central Dogma.  
  
"We can stop this... I think."  
  
"How?"  
  
"I... I'm not sure, yet. Remove Lillith, and the Angels can still get to Adam," I speculated aloud as I continued. "Remove Adam, and SEELE can still cause their," I waved my hand in the air while I grasped for the word, before giving up and continuning, "thingy. And Gendo's plan, whatever it is, I don't know how to intervene... but we can think of something!"  
  
"And so... we're headed deeper why?"  
  
"Well, I'm kind of curious as to what, exactly, is down there... and I want to see if there's someway we can stop all this and leave as soon as possible."  
  
"Makes sense.. so we go deeper?"  
  
"NO!" Ritsuko roared, pulling away from Archer. "Don't trust it! It wants to kill us all!"  
  
"Not really, no," I replied, before ignoring her. Archer managed to grab her again, and I sighed, turning to Sailor Jupiter, "lets... make it quick, you know? In-and-out, then get back before SHODAN does anything we'll all regret."  
  
"Alright, then." Jupiter said, blowing the next door open from a distance.  
  
After a few minutes, our little group arrived before a thick-looking door, clearly designed to intimidate would-be-tresspassers.  
  
"-Shot on sight," Nabiki mumbled, reading a fraction of the words above the door, before frowning.  
  
"So... Central Dogma... what a stupid name," I said, looking at the door curiously. Ritsuko could probably open it, if she wasn't convinced I wanted to destroy the world. Shrugging, I brought my fist back, and aimed for the seam of the door, before letting loose a punch I knew didn't have a chance of budging the door.  
  
Instead of breaking my hand, however, a pair of those AT-Field-things Ritsuko had mentioned appeared, this time around my fist, forming a wedge. When it hit the door, sparks flew out of the card reader to the side of the door for a moment, before the doors flew open with a mechanical crunch.  
  
"...Effective," Jupiter said, staring at the warped and smoldering edges of the door. Dr. Akagi whimpered, and I rolled my eyes, stepping inside the room.  
  
"Oh.. hey! It looks like that clone-growth tube from Alien Ressurection!" I said, spotting the clear tube in the middle of the room. Suddenly, the lights came on, and I gasped as dozens of blue-haired, red-eyed girls became visible within a tank of yellowish fluid.  
  
"The.. err.. Dumb Plug system?" I asked, turning to Nabiki.  
  
"Dummy," she nodded, and I turned to look into the tank again, staring at the Rei-clones, and wondering why they were all smiling.  
  
"Rei-" I started, my wings suddenly expanding when all the clones suddenly shifted their gaze to me. I blinked, then turned to look at Dr. Akagi, before I blinked again. Apparently, I was hovering a good two feet off the ground.  
  
"Eh-heh..." I muttered, relaxing and wishing myself back to the floor. Slowly I saw the floor rise to meet me, and finally, with the deck once again pressing up against the bottons of my boots (now too large for my smaller feet) I smirked.  
  
"Today's been a learning experience, hasn't it?" I asked rhetorically, before turning back to the clones.  
  
Remembering what the episode summaries had described happening in here, I turned to Archer, "check her pockets for some sort of remote... thingy."  
  
Archer did, and a moment later removed a fancy-looking remote-controller. Looking it over, I frowned, unsure what the unmarked buttons did.  
  
"So.. which one should I press?"  
  
Nabiki, Makoto and Archer shrugged, and I signed, flipping it over and examining the back, before pressing a small reddish button on the top. The face lit up, and all the buttons assumed a color, but remained irksomely unlabeled.  
  
"Okay.. I turned it on..." I mumbled, looking around. A small red light was now visible near the top of the tube in the center of the room, and I figured that meant it was recieving... something.  
  
"Okay.. so I guess this thing is live. Lets see... maybe.. no, red usually is the one that blows things up... how about... green?"  
  
"No!" Ritsuko shouted, and I smirked, before pressing the green button.  
  
The lights went out.  
  
"What'd you do!" Nabiki asked from the darkness. All around us, there was an odd chittering noise I realized was giggling, and then a sloshing noise, followed by wet feet on hard floors.  
  
"Um... Kyle?" Makoto asked, a moment before someone grabbed my wing. Folding it up, I pulled her to me, and held on, hoping Nabiki was okay in the darkness, and wondering if I'd just screwed up.  
  
All around us, there was the sound of figures moving around us, and I could feel the soft breezes that acompany someone walking within a foot or so of you. But even then, I didn't 'feel' their presence, the clash of bioelectric fields that meant someone had just broken your little bubble of personal space. Makoto shivered, and I squeezed her a little more as the footsteps faded, the ocasionall giggle now echoing back to us from what sounded like a great distance.  
  
"Nabiki?" I called, after the footfalls and giggling had faded to nothing.  
  
"I'm... here. Archer?"  
  
"I'm here Admiral... I'm sorry to report, however, the prisoner pulled free, and I'm unsure where she ran off to."  
  
There was a growl from over to my left, and I felt Makoto's grip tighten slightly, before the lights came back on, much brighter than before.  
  
"Augh! What the hell?"  
  
Where the growl had come from stood Dr. Akagi, who was staring behind me, at the wall of the glass tank holding the Rei-clones. A tank, I realized as I turned, that was now empty.  
  
"Erm.. where'd they go?"  
  
Nabiki pointed at the floor, and I looked down, surprised at the sheer number of footprints leading towards the door, a many of which came extremely close to where Makoto and I'd been standing.  
  
"Umm.. shouldn't we have felt them?" Makoto asked, looking at the footprints around us warily.  
  
"You IDIOT! Those were soulless clones... What the hell were you thinking, releasing them?" Ritsuko screamed.  
  
"Well, I was thinking you wouldn't want to help, so I figured when you said no, that by doing so I'd be helping myself..."  
  
"That's horrible logic, Kyle," Nabiki deadpanned, turning to look at an unassuming door set in a dark alcove off to the side of the room. In the dim orange light from behind the LCL tanks, the door had beeen hidden, but with ceiling floodlights illuminating the room quite thorougly, the once-hidden door was now quite obvious.  
  
"So sue me... at least they're gone.. their stare was unnerving," I mumbled, turning to peer intently into the tube in the center of the room.  
  
"And the fact that they're running around doing who-knows-what is more comforting?," Nabiki retorted. I was about to argue the point when Nabiki's startled gasp drew everyone's attention.   
  
Turning to look at her, I realized she was backing towards me, away from a naked Rei-clone who was slowly approaching from another darkened corner of the room. Nabiki continued to back away as the Clone approached, finally stopping when she backed into the tube occupying the center of the room.  
  
Makoto and I prepared to beat it down, and Nabiki's stare transformed into a glare, focusing on it defiantly, her earlier display of fear giving way to the iron will she'd so often wielded in the past.  
  
Finally the Clone stopped, inches away from Nabiki, and simply stared, ignoraning the cool atmosphere, the fluid covering her, or her current state of undress.  
  
The staring match continued, expresionless stare versus calculating gaze, until finally, after a minute or so, the clone smiled and took a step back.  
  
"Ehh.. Nabiki, looks like you've got a friend," I said. Nabiki's eyes darted my way for a moment, and she hissed, "Please," before taking a step back.  
  
The clone just watched her, and finally Nabiki turned to Ritsuko, "is this supposed to happen?"  
  
"Are you kidding? They're not supposed to leave their tank. How the hell should I know if something is 'normal.'"  
  
"Relax, Doctor, it's just a question," I said, frowning. Dr. Akagi didn't relax, instead she exploded.  
  
"RELAX? The Dummy Plug system just ended, and instead of destroying the bodies, they're out wandering around doing god knows what, there's an Angel in here with me... the hell? I'm talking to it... NO! I will NOT Relax, damnit."  
  
"But... I'm.. a good angel?" I asked/said weakly, before shrugging, "I killed that spider-guy."  
  
Suddenly there was a crash, and I turned to see Jupiter standing in the recessed doorway, foot extended, and the door nowhere to be seen. A moment later she disapeared beyond, Ritsuko glaring at me before stepping through the doorway swiftly.  
  
Nabiki made her way through the door a moment later, the Rei-clone staring after her for a moment before following. Archer looked at me, and I shrugged, before following them.  
  
Stepping through the door, I blinked in surprise at the sheer size of the place, then blinked again as everythign went out of focus. Finally, I realized I was staring into a pair of blood-red eyes currently no more than six inches from my own.  
  
"AUGH!" I shouted, jumping back and hovering somewhere above the floor in the room... which, I suddenly realized, was rather diminuitive. The rest of the room was dominated by a veritable sea of that LCL-stuff that the Rei-clones had been floating in.  
  
One of which, I realized looking down, was staring at me from the floor, Nabiki's own Clone staring at her with that same expressionless gaze.  
  
"Umm... Right." I mumbled, looking at it and wondering what it was thinking.. if anything.  
  
Finally, it smiled, the same enigmatic smile Nabiki's clone had given, and I sighed, wondering if this one was going to follow me around like Nabiki's was, now.  
  
Turning, I finally shifted my attention to the large white figure crucified on a blood-red cross, with a thing sticking out of it's chest. It's legs were missing, though instead of dangling bits of plumbing, a bunch of knobby things were sticking out of it, small, root-like tendrils sticking out of the knots like fingers.  
  
"Or cow udders," I mumbled, before I finally realized I'd seen the object embedded in the figure's chest before.  
  
"Hey! It's that tuning fork thing," I said, loud enough for the others to hear. Of course, the last time I'd seen something like it, it was in the hands of a twelve-inch Rei figurine, so apparently, someone got the proportions wrong somewhere. Still, there was no mistaking the bright red helix-like design.  
  
"The... tuning fork?" Dr. Akagi said, staring at me like I'd grown a second head to acompany my wings.  
  
"Well, I don't know.. ohh... it must be that Lance of Longitude thing, right?"  
  
"Longinus!"  
  
"-tude, -nus, whatever. It still looks like a tuning fork. And this is Lillith?" I asked, floating untill I was almost face to face with the masked figure.  
  
At this distance, I felt an ood sort of attraction to it, like I was knee deep in a river that was gently pulling me towards the Angel, but I ignored it, keeping my distance while I stared. It wasn't exactly ugly, but it certainly didn't win any awards, either. It looked, actually, like a wad of white chewing gum given a humanoid shape... or maybe that caulk carpenters sealed houses up with.  
  
When I expressed this to the others, Ritsuko started making choking noises as I continued, " to be totally honest, it also kind of looks like Daimon Germatos, from Sailor Moon S... Did you ever see him, Mako-chan?"  
  
Glancing back, she nodded, "I watched the DVD."  
  
"Oh.. yeah... Oh well... too many eyes, wrong color face... at least it's not laughing, right?"  
  
'WHO ARE YOU?'  
  
I screamed and backed away from the figure when the words suddenly appeared in my head.  
  
'WHAT ARE YOU?'  
  
I blinked, the other's shouted inquiries as to what was wrong ignored, as I contemplated what I was hearing... or really, not hearing.  
  
'WHY HAVE YOU COME?'  
  
Suddenly, the room, the figure, the sounds, everything disappeared, and I found myself, in my regular form, standing waist deep in the yellow liquid the clones had been in; LCL. Wincing as I wiggled my toes in the soaked, submerged socks within my boots, I glanced around, and gasped when I spotted a woman before me, standing on the surface of the fluid.  
  
"Er.. hello?" I asked, tenatively.  
  
"Who...?" The woman asked, staring at me as if seeing me for the first time. She looked sligtly like the Rei-clones had, but the facial features were only similar, not the same. Aside from that, though, her skin was dead-fish-belly-white, as was her hair, but both seemed to glow slightly, as did her red eyes. Squinting for a moment, I realized it was more like a blurring effect than a glow, then shrugged as I started talking.  
  
"Err, I'm Kyle. Nice to meet you. Where the hell did the room go?"  
  
"You have the body of an Angel, but my children's Soul... and your mind seems to have been touched by the Father... What are you?"  
  
"I.. what?" I asked, frowning. It made sense, I suppose, when you considered I was in my cursed form a moment ago, but...  
  
"I'm... err.. I am.. I dunno. I am I, you know? I'm just me," I said, hoping that was a good enough explanation for the moment. "Where are we?" I asked, changing the subject while looking around.  
  
"We are in the place of thoughts," she said, flatly, like that explained everything.  
  
"Err.. we're in your head?"  
  
"No, this place exists everywhere there is sentient life, and yet, is unreachable by those who create it, except in certain, rare circumstances."  
  
"Like right now?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Kickass. I always knew I was special," I grinned, ignoring fact that, special or not, I was waist-deep in slimy goo.  
  
"Kick... How is it an Angel has such..." she paused, then shook her head, "but it is not important. You have made it to me, Messenger of God. Do you wish to join me?"  
  
"Do I... what?"  
  
"Do you wish to become one, to unify the fractured?"  
  
"Unif-" my eyes widened, "You mean that Third Impact thing!?"  
  
"That is what my children have come to call it, yes."  
  
"Not really, no. I've got friends back.. err.. wherever I left them. If they melted into that," I paused, then looked at the LCL I was standing in, before scooping up a handful, "this goo-stuff, I'd be rather upset."  
  
"You find my blood... repugnant?"  
  
I winced as I realized I'd insulted her, "Ahh, not really, just.. umm... unappetizing. You know? I mean, It's blood, and, it's... kind of an off-yellow. Kinda like that stuff that leaks out of a cut after the wound's started to close. Not blood, but the yellowish stuff that crystalizes... like plasma."  
  
"You speak as if you've had... and yet, your self image is that of my children. How is this possible?"  
  
"Huh? I'm.. you lost me somewhere."  
  
"Lost.. an apropriate description for both of us, I'm afraid. But I must know. I have felt others draw near, only to be cut down by my children's creations. Are you not one of the Messengers?"  
  
"Huh? I don't think so. I'm a visitor who got mixed up in some mad scheme to destroy the world... I think. Damn, I wish I understood this series better."  
  
"Series?"  
  
"Yeah," I said, looking at the horizon, and wondering why it seemed to stretch on forever, but didn't seem to go more than ten feet in any direction. Turning back to the pale woman, I quickly summed up my adventures, this time without any omissions. When I finished, I looked at her for a moment, then frowned, "You're Lillith, aren't you?"  
  
"That is the name... those from my universe have adopted for me." She said, pausing to consider my story before adjusting her answer accordingly.  
  
I nodded, "Keen... so if you're here, what's Rei? I thought your soul was in her."  
  
"My soul is much too large to fit within even the hybrid body my children birthed. The soul in Rei is merely a piece of my own; the same piece given to all my children."  
  
"Oooohhh..." I said, then frowned, "Wait, you mean, every human's soul is just a piece of yours?"  
  
"In this universe, yes. Though you must understand that after leaving me, it becomes it's own soul... It can return to me only in the end, what you and my children have come to call Third Impact."  
  
"Right. So, umm.. who's soul chunk do I have?" I asked, wondering if that was the most astute way to put it.  
  
"I do not know. It is nearly identical to mine, but I feel no bind between us, as I do with my children. Your body, however, reaches out to me as do all of Adam's Creations; God's Messengers. Angels."  
  
"Oh... so maybe there's an Adam and a Lillith in Nabiki's world..." I muttered, then shivered, wondering if that meant there'd be a Second Impact there, and how to break that to Nabiki. Shrugging it off, I looked at the woman, and frowned, "so, what now?"  
  
"I do not know... That I am here would suggest that my children have discovered their Instrumentality, and intend to benefit from it."  
  
"Oh, that Human Instrumentality Project... okay. Right, so, then... ahh.." I trailed off, unsure of what to say. Finally, "so... why are you crucified with that lance sticking out of you?"  
  
"It is my punishment," she said, quietly. Apaprently, I'd just hit a sore spot, and I looking down at the LCL, wondering how to change the topic.  
  
"Well, can you send me back, or do I have to join you?"  
  
"I am unsure how to send you back, though, if we join, you might have the chance to return everything to the way it was."  
  
"Umm... that's not exactly comforting..."  
  
"I am sorry."  
  
"Not as much as I am. I should have just beamed up, and reduced this place to slag. Can you tell me what's happening back in the real world?"  
  
"Nothing is happening."  
  
'What? We've been talking for," I glanced at my watched, then frowned as I realized it wasn't moving, "well... a while now."  
  
"Time is nothing here... no time has yet passed, out where your body and your friends wait."  
  
"Well.. I suppose if there's no other way, I'll join with you for a bit. But can we skip the.. err... dramatic stuff and just sort of bring everything back to the way it is now?"  
  
"I can try... However, if things are returned to their current status, the world will still be on the brink of Third Impact."  
  
"You mean, I'm going to merge with you for a minute, turn everyone on Earth into.. err... break down their.. umm... All the souls come together for a moment, then go back to being themselves again, just to find the Angels are still coming and what-not?"  
  
"That si the most likely outcome."  
  
"Right... well, okay, then. Lets get this over with, and I'll let Ikari deal with it, next time. That's the way it's supposed to happen, I think. Go easy on the kid, though. He's rather frail."  
  
"I will... try to do that. Once more, Messenger, do you wish to join with me?"  
  
"Yeah, but just for a-" I was cut off by a flash of light, and suddenly I fould myself floating before Lilith in my cursed form again.  
  
"What the?"  
  
'WELCOME'  
  
Hundreds of white tentacles suddenly reached out from the crucified figure and wrapped around me, pulling me towards the figure, impaling me on the shaft of the Lance before I could do much more than gasp.  
  
----------------------------------------------------------  
  
AN: Well.. that was fun. Got to play with the story a bit, and hopefully rattle a few cages... kinda. I suppose I should post these, as well... But first I'm taking a nap, and then buying my mom her Mother's Day present. 


	3. Chapter 3

-from the outside-  
  
Makoto, Nabiki, Archer, and Dr. Akagi Ritsuko watched in horror as Kyle was suddenly encased in hundreds of tentacles before being pulled into Lillith's body, the shaft of the Lance of Longinus piercing the bundled figure as it was drawn rapidly inward.  
  
"Nooooo!!!!!!!!" Ritsuko shouted, collapsing to the floor.  
  
"Kyle!" Nabiki and Makoto shouted. Captain Archer winced, and stared at the giant figure that now held his charge. Captain Bowen had given her life to protect Lady Makoto, and here he stood, unable to do much more than stare as supposedly-divine beings fought a battle he had no chance of understanding, much less interfering with.  
  
Suddenly, the figure on the cross shifted, and the Lance of Longinus withdrew from Lillith, floating before the figure as its torso suddenly sprouted legs. Then Lillith fell forward, LCL flying at the four witnesses to the beginning of the unplanned Third Impact.  
  
Makoto sputtered, wiping the salty fluid out of her eyes and trying to ignore the coppery odor of blood that suddenly permeated the area. Nabiki, doing the same, squinted when she realized there was a rapid, semi-rhythmic pounding drawing nearer. Turning towards a large cavernous tunnel into which the LCL seemed to slowly flow, she watched the blue, purple, and red Evas run into the room, surprised something so big could move so swiftly.  
  
Makoto stared into the sea of fluid, unsure of what to do. She'd not yet detransformed, and currently the sixth-sense she and the other senshi seemed to have was warning her that, indeed, something powerful was beginning.  
  
A moment after that, a white figure began to stand within the pool, growing larger as it did. Its arm reached out and took hold of the hovering Lance of Longinus, as it quickly grew to dwarf even the giant Evas.  
  
"But.. I thought Adam had to join with Lillith inside Rei for this to happen!" Makoto said, recognizing what was happening from reading the summary of End of Evangelion.  
  
"I guess Kyle's Angel body was part Adam," Nabiki mused, staring as the figure continued to grow. In a matter of moments, the three travelers, three pilots, and one doctor found themselves staring at a pair of pale legs that disappeared through the roof.  
  
"You know... times like these, Makoto, you should be a bit more assertive... stop those male impulses of his..." Nabiki mumbled.  
  
Makoto just snorted, then turned when she heard a soft sigh off to her left. Staring up towards the ceiling was the Rei clone that had apparently taken a liking to her husband, the clone seemingly comforted by his current situation.  
  
"We should move to a more beneficial location," Archer said, suddenly. Nabiki nodded, and Makoto began moving towards the door, before stopping to grab the horrified Doctor.  
  
Nabiki's Rei-clone followed Nabiki with a grin on her face, though Nabiki and Makoto both thought that it had turned somewhat... calculating, compared to the previous, empty grin it'd had plastered to its face.  
  
When Ritsuko was far enough away that she was unable to stare at the figure growing in the other room, she suddenly shivered, and pulled herself out of Nabiki's grasp. Following behind them slowly, the other Rei clone tagged along, occasionally pausing to stare up towards the ceiling, as if she could see the growing figure above.  
  
Frowning at the pleased look on the lagging clone's face, Dr. Akagi led them towards a door, "this way.. We can watch the end of the world from the bridge." They followed quickly behind her, Dr. Akagi opening the locked doors in their way with a swipe of her card and an override code.  
  
Turning a corner, the group was unprepared for the sudden appearance of a third Rei clone, who stepped out from around the corner, and quickly glanced at everyone, before staring at the transformed Makoto.  
  
"Not again," Nabiki moaned, looking at the clone that was following her. The clone didn't appear to move, but Nabiki could have sworn it's grin had grown a little bigger for a brief instant.  
  
"What's it matter, we're all dead, anyway," Ritsuko said, glancing between the clone and the Senshi for a moment, before turning and continuing towards the bridge. Sailor Jupiter finally rolled her eyes, and slipped around the now-grinning clone, who turned to stare at the departing Senshi for a second, before her grin trembled, and it began following behind them, a few steps ahead of the skyward-gazing Rei Clone.  
  
Finally, they emerged on the bridge, where Maya, Makoto, and Shigeru stood staring at the giant display screen on the back wall.  
  
Makoto's follower stared at Makoto from the doorway, while Kyle's peered around the corner, before stiffening up, and staring at the large monitor dominating the far wall.  
  
Spotting the group from across the room, Maya Ibuki shouted for her mentor (and obsession), drawing everyone's gaze.  
  
"Is it...?" Shigeru Aoba said, slowly. Ritsuko nodded sadly, and the Bridge officers all slumped visibly.  
  
"Why," Makoto Hyuga said, softly.  
  
Sailor Jupiter scowled, "Kyle's not like that! He wouldn't kill everyone on a planet, he's probably got some sort of plan."  
  
"Well.. he did say he hated this series," Nabiki said, softly. The Senshi scowled at her, but said nothing, though Dr. Akagi winced slightly.  
  
Finally Jupiter frowned, "Don't they need Unit-01 to do this? And the other Evas?"  
  
"No," Ritsuko said, glancing up from a monitor, "from what I read, the only reason SEELE would have done that was because there were no more Angels.. and Unit 01, with an S-2 Engine, was the only possible substitute."  
  
"Sempai... what...?" Ibuki asked, staring at her idol in shock. Ritsuko ignored the bridge bunny for a moment, glaring at the confused Senshi of Thunder.  
  
"Apparently, an Instrumentality Third Impact requires a merger of either Adam an Angel with Lillith, using a human soul as a sort of focal point."  
  
"So, then... this is Instrumentality?"  
  
"No, this is Third Impact. That Angel Merged with Lillith. There is no Human Soul-"  
  
"But there IS!" Nabiki and Jupiter interrupted, making Dr. Akagi frown..  
  
"Impossible," the doctor countered, turning away to look back at the screen. The others did the same, a moment before Hyuga shouted, "Anti-AT- Field detected.. it's growing rapidly!"  
  
"At this rate," Aoba said, turning towards the others, "all life will be extinguished."  
  
"No!" Jupiter yelled, staring at the figure displayed on the screen, apparently a live-feed from a satellite. Makoto gasped suddenly as the unmistakable form of the Jupiter's Thunder drifted onscreen from above the camera, on a course that would take it over the gigantic figure emerging from the Earth's Atmosphere.  
  
"What the-"  
  
"Holy-"  
  
"Is that a-"  
  
"SHODAN!" Nabiki shouted, looking around for a way to communicate with the ship. Unnoticed by her, but drawing the bridge-crew's attention was the Clone, who, after a moment of watching, began copying Nabiki's frantic searching actions at an imaginary control board.  
  
"Umm... why is Rei naked?" Aoba asked, softly.  
  
"I thought she was in Unit Zero..." Hyuga mumbled, before tearing his gaze off the naked First Children.  
  
"Damnit, where's the-Ah!" Nabiki said, diving for a darkened panel near the corner. Flipping it on, she grabbed the microphone and started speaking.  
  
"This is Admiral Tendo calling Jupiter's Thunder from NERV Headquarters. Come in Jupiter's Thunder. SHODAN? Are you there?"  
  
Flicking a couple switches she tried again.  
  
"NO!" Someone shouted, turning Nabiki around. She glanced at the screen the others' were suddenly staring at, and felt the Microphone slip from her suddenly numb-fingers.  
  
Across the face of the Earth, a reddish wave rapidly expanded, green cross- like lights popping up randomly from the areas passed over, before millions of red, glowing globes raced towards the figure standing with it's back towards the camera.  
  
The Senshi of Jupiter turned when she heard a pop, followed quickly by a splashing sound, and realized that the guy who'd been sitting in the chair, the one with glasses, had disappeared, his clothes lying in a puddle of the stuff, LCL, they'd seen enough of down below.  
  
"Mother?" Dr. Ritsuko said, a moment before her body melted, the fluid collecting in a puddle around the lab coat and other articles of clothing she'd been wearing.  
  
Jupiter and Nabiki looked at each other with horrified expressions on their faces as the people around them dissolved. When Nabiki suddenly collapsed, Sailor Jupiter ran to her friend's side, not noticing as her body flashed green for a moment, or Captain Archer suddenly paling and wobbling slightly on his feet.  
  
"Nabiki!"  
  
"I'm... I'm okay.. I think. I just felt like someone tried to rip me to pieces..."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Seriously, I don't even feel it anymore," The Tendo said, climbing to her feet.  
  
"Whatever it was, My Lady, It's passed," Captain Archer said, staring at the puddle at his feet before making his way towards a relatively clear spot on the floor.  
  
Nabiki looked over at the Rei clone, who'd watched everything going on with detached interest, then frowned, "I suppose you didn't feel anything either."  
  
The three interdimentional travelers were shocked when the clone responded flatly, "didn't feel anything."  
  
"You spoke!"  
  
"Spoke."  
  
"Great, it's just copying us," Nabiki said, scowling. The clone scowled back and said nothing. Unnoticed by the others, the clone that had followed them from the Lillith room silently slipped back out the door.  
  
Sailor Jupiter glanced at the puddles on the floor and chairs around her for a moment, before sighing and detransforming, "now what?"  
  
Nabiki glanced at the monitor, still showing the winged figure, though it seemed to be spreading it's arms out, now.  
  
"I guess we wait and see what happens... Why would Kyle do something like this?"  
  
"Well, in that summary, it said Shinji and Asuka came back, right? Maybe he intended to bring us back?"  
  
"And leave an entire world trapped in some sort of mega-soul limbo?"  
  
"Lord Kyle has pulled through in the past... we shouldn't discount any possibilities just yet," Archer said, pulling a dry chair over for Makoto to sit down in.  
  
"Thanks," the brunette said, collapsing into the chair then looking at the puddles around her. "At least-" Makoto's voice froze as the LCL around the room started glowing a bright red.  
  
"What the?"  
  
Nabiki, Makoto, and Captain Archer all covered their eyes as the room was engulfed in a bright white flash. When their arms dropped, they stared blankly at the figures scattered around the room, lying where the LCL had sat a moment ago, their clothes still crumpled beneath them.  
  
Nabiki's Rei-clone smirked at them all, then turned to smirk at Nabiki, who was too busy staring wide-eyed at the naked NERV staff to return it with a glare.  
  
Makoto glanced up at the monitor, ignoring the pair of naked guys on the floor to find out what the giant figure towering above them all was doing. She blinked as it fell back, arms extended, into the clouds, growing more and more transparent as it neared the ground. For a brief moment, Makoto saw its face, upside down, as it looked towards the satellite recording the image.  
  
"...Kyle..." She said, softly, recognizing the face as her husband's cursed form. A moment later the figure sunk below the clouds, and the NERV Staff around them began to stir.  
  
It was Maya Ibuki who opened her eyes first, before screaming. Dr. Akagi, Hyuga, and Aoba jerked awake, turning to stare at the blushing woman, who was suddenly trying to cover herself up, grab her clothes, and crawl away at the same time.  
  
She managed to back into a surprised Ritsuko, who grunted as the younger woman tripped over a shoe and collapsed into the doctor's lap.  
  
"Ibuki..." She said, frowning. Apparently, this was too much for lieutenant, who managed to turn purple before passing out.  
  
Aoba and Hyuga, having realized that staring would probably land them in a bit of trouble, quickly began pulling their clothes on. After squirming out from under the unconscious Lieutenant, Ritsuko quickly pulled her clothes back on, before she draped her lab coat over the lieutenant.  
  
Finally, the three NERV personal turned towards the three interdimentional travelers expectantly.  
  
"What?" Nabiki asked. The Rei-clone just continued smirking and crossed her arms, still naked, and just as silent as the others remembered her. Makoto, however, turned to look around when she realized the clone that had followed them from the room full of LCL was no longer with them.  
  
"That was..." Makoto said, finally turning her gaze back to the screen.  
  
"Anticlimactic," Nabiki interjected, Leaning back over the communications board she'd been trying to contact the Thunder with earlier.  
  
Dr. Akagi turned towards the door, a frown plastered to her face. Makoto, seeing this, followed her out into the hall, before asking where she was going.  
  
"Back to the LCL Manufacturing Plant," Ritsuko stated, as if it were the most obvious answer.  
  
Makoto nodded, and followed silently, her Senshi uniform morphing back into the clothes she'd been wearing before everything had started.  
  
-on the inside-  
  
It was wet. Actually, it was weird, waking up and realizing I was breathing a liquid. That I wasn't drowning was ignored as instinct made me thrash violently, doing my best in my newly-awakened disoriented state to find the surface of whatever I was currently drifting in.  
  
Finally breaking the surface, I coughed up the fluid, blinking in the yellowish light as the room swam into focus. I was a couple hundred feet away from the platform, and towering above me, not two feet away, was the crucified form of Lillith, Longinus Lance still firmly imbedded in her chest.  
  
"Wha...?" I asked, before turning towards the platform and slowly swimming towards it. Glancing down, I realized I was still in my cursed form, and that swimming with wings isn't quite the same as swimming without. They created drag no matter how hard I tried to minimize their profile, and trying to keep them above the surface just sent the rest of me under. Not that it mattered, since I could breathe the LCL, but I didn't particularly wish to continually switch from fluid to gas and back.  
  
Finally, I stumbled across a solution, holding my breath for a moment before diving and using my wings like I would have in the air, which propelled me through the water a lot faster than I'd expected. Before I knew it, I was at the platform, and I arched my back, launching myself out of the water with enough force to carry me to a wet landing on the platform.  
  
A landing that lost much of it's grace as I slipped on the slick fluid covering me and the floor and landed on my ass. A humored snort alerted me to another's presence, and I glanced up from my sitting position to see a naked Rei Clone, apparently the same one who'd stopped me on my way here, smirking at me from the nearby doorway.  
  
"Nice welcoming party," I mumbled, wondering what the hell had happened. One minute I was with the others staring at Lillith, the next I was swimming at her feet. And where had everyone gone?  
  
"Do you know where the others are?" I asked the Rei Clone as I quickly stripped out of my slick clothes and began wringing them out. The pants were quick to come off, but the shirt I had to rip, the holes for my wings making the transformation easy, but not their removal. The LCL was a little thicker than water, but came out readily, so after a moment of wringing, I had a pile of damp, wrinkled clothes, as opposed to the soaked uniform I'd awoken in.  
  
"They're on their way," The Clone responded. I blinked. From what I had read, Rei, in all her iterations, was rather lifeless and robotic. This response, while factual and to the point, was said with amusement, interest, and curiosity. Likewise, her expression, unlike when she'd first detached herself from the shadows, was also very lifelike, and she seemed to almost be leering at my naked che-  
  
"The Hell!" I shouted, turning around before pulling my shirt back on. Clothed again, I glared at the Clone, who smirked at me before looking down at herself and sighing. Further conversation was suspended as Makoto and Ritsuko entered the room. Or, somewhat entering the room. Ritsuko, upon spotting me, froze, and with the floor liberally coated with LCL, Makoto slammed into her, sending the Doctor to the floor. Makoto, now without any forward momentum, straightened up, freezing as Ritsuko had when she finally spotted me over the fallen scientist.  
  
"You're... " Ritsuko said, shakily climbing to her feet.  
  
"-back!" Dr. Akagi was cut off as Makoto ran/slid over to me and caught me in a hug that took us both to the floor. After a moment in which we held each other, during which I grew more and more confused while Makoto mumbled incoherently at me, we climbed to our feet, and turned when Akagi cleared her throat.  
  
"What. The. Hell. Just. Happened?"  
  
I blinked, "Actually... " I turned to the Rei Clone, then Makoto, before turning my gaze on her again, " I was kind of hoping you could tell me..."  
  
"We told you he wasn't an angel!" Makoto stated, scowling at the doctor.  
  
"Third Impact can't happen without one, and that... that... what just happened certainly LOOKED like a Third Impact."  
  
Makoto pointed over her shoulder at Lillith, "Everything looks just like it did before, doesn't it? So obviously it was undone."  
  
"But that's not possible!"  
  
Making my way over to the Rei Clone, who was watching the argument with amusement and interest, I quietly asked her if she knew what happened.  
  
"Yes," was her monosyllabic reply.  
  
"... and?" I asked, again wondering why this Rei was acting so unlike the robot I'd read so much about.  
  
"Third Impact."  
  
"Why THANK you for stating the obvious so bluntly. Think you could elaborate a bit?"  
  
She turned to me and smirked, "Elaborate? You were absorbed into Lillith, and the Adam-portion of your body merged with Lillith. But with your human soul, you created Instrumentality. Obviously, you elected to return everyone to the status quo, and as such, everyone is back."  
  
"... oh."  
  
"Glad you understand, now."  
  
"Rei?" Ritsuko asked, pausing at some point during the summary to listen to the clone.  
  
"I'm not... well.. I am, but only in body."  
  
"But... you're ... you should be a mindless Clone... the Dummy Plug system... did Rei die?"  
  
"Eloquent today, aren't you, doctor?" The cone responded, her smirk growing.  
  
"Yeah.. I'm lost." I muttered, making my way back to Makoto. Nabiki chose this time to enter, two more naked Rei clones following her. A moment Later, Captain Archer entered as well, relief obvious upon his face when he spotted me.  
  
"Rei.. and.. Rei..." Ritsuko mumbled, turning from each clone to the next, before shuddering.  
  
"Well, technically, we're not, really. Bodily, perhaps..."  
  
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" Ritsuko screamed at the Rei who had responded. She'd taken up a position near Nabiki, while the third had made her way over to us, and was standing near Makoto.  
  
"Well, when we were released from the tank, we were, as you so eloquently stated, virtually mindless," the one I'd been speaking with earlier said.  
  
The Clone by Nabiki continued, "Apparently, nature abhors a vacuum, or something like that, because we all migrated towards people with souls of abundant power."  
  
"Makoto's follower spoke next, "My sisters and I, if you will recall, locked gazes with these people, and, well..."  
  
"-The Eyes are the window to the soul, right?" Mine asked rhetorically. Nabiki's finished up.  
  
"We took a small portion of the soul, and used it, and the power of the aborted Third Impact to build up a complete soul based upon the patterns and basics within the original piece."  
  
"... You stole my soul?" Makoto asked, shocked.  
  
"Not stole, we took a small piece... by the time we finished integrating it and building up our own, your own soul would, and has replaced it's missing piece," Nabiki's Clone said.  
  
"But you're not supposed to be autonomous! You just sit in a tank and take orders from Gendo or I, and control Eva's from long distances!"  
  
"We took orders from Authority Figures. WHO was never specified. And our release from the tank released us from those orders, though the compulsion still existed. However, at this time, I doubt any of us are going to be willing to submit to the commands of Ikari or yourself."  
  
"But... what of the others?"  
  
"If they didn't bond, they're probably going to be Rei-like in their thoughts and actions," Makoto's clone said.  
  
"So.. what should we call you, if not Rei?" Nabiki asked, finally.  
  
I grinned, "That's easy." I pointed at the one by Makoto "You'll be 'Mei," I turned to the one who'd been waiting for me on the platform and was apparently bonded to me, "'Kei,'" and then I pointed at Nabiki's clone, "And... err.. 'Nei?'"  
  
The three clones looked at each other, then the person they'd chosen to bond with, before nodding together.  
  
"Acceptable" Mei, Kei, and Nei stated at the same time.  
  
"Great!" I said, startling the others, "Now that that's settled, and everyone is alive and well despite, apparently, every soul on earth being collected then disseminated or whatever the hell happened, I'd like some hot water, and access to my ship, where I'm sure SHODAN is probably preparing to raze the city."  
  
"A good plan... I might, however, suggest getting some clothes for us, first," Kei said, glancing appreciatively at Mei. Nei was looking at Kei in a similar fashion, and I frowned.  
  
"Did.. err.. sexual orientation get copied in that bonding-thing?"  
  
Kei quirked a brow and grinned at me, before dropping her gaze to my chest again, "What do you think?"  
  
"I think I need that hot water." 


	4. Chapter 4

After a quick shower, and a brief call to let SHODAN know we were alright, I found myself, and my companions sitting around a large cafeteria table, along with most of the NERV staff I'd read about in Nabiki's papers.  
  
"So..." I said, glancing at the vending machine, and wishing I had a quarter.. or yen, or whatever the thing took.  
  
"First, you're going to explain what the hell happened a half-hour ago. Then you're going to explain that... that ship up in orbit. And Finally, you're going to come with me for a series of tests," Dr. Akagi said, flatly. I frowned at her, and the frown she returned quickly melted mine into a grin.  
  
"You make it sound like you're in charge here."  
  
"No, that would be me," Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki said, sliding into a seat on the NERV side of the table. Gendo was still unconscious, apparently, so their side consisted of the three bridge-bunnies, Fuyutsuki, and Akagi. My side consisted of Makoto, Nabiki, Archer, myself, and the three Rei-Clones, now sporting Rei's replacement Plug Suits, and Ritsuko's spare lab coats.  
  
"Before we continue, Security is bringing Major Katsuragi up. She should be here in a moment," Fuyutsuki said, taking a standing position behind the other NERV staffers.  
  
"What about the Pilots?" Nabiki asked, frowning.  
  
"What about them?" Dr. Akagi said, looking honestly surprised that they'd be brought up.  
  
"Well, shouldn't they be here, as well? It's a safe assumption that our conversation will eventually cover them, as well," I said, frowning again. Before anyone could respond, Misato entered, frowning over her shoulder at the closing door, before sliding into a seat on my side of the bench.  
  
"Welcome back, Major," Makoto said, softly. Katsuragi nodded, but didn't take her gaze off Fuyutsuki, except when she shifted the glare to Ritsuko.  
  
"Well, I suppose, for the time being, we can tal-" I was interrupted as the door opened again, and a new figure entered. Frowning, I tried to remember just who he might be, until Misato mumbled something and I caught the word "Kaji" in it.  
  
Kaji grinned, apparently unconcerned with the crowd all staring at him, and he made his way to one end of the table, where he swung a chair around, and straddled it backwards.  
  
"...Riiight..." I mumbled, rolling my eyes. Dr. Akagi cleared her throat, and all eyes shifted to her.  
  
"First and foremost, we need to discuss what just happened."  
  
"Well, I don't really remember all that much, but since we're all here, is it that important?" I asked, honestly.  
  
"If that was Third Impact, then does that mean the war with the Angels is over?" Maya asked.  
  
"No, I do remember being told that if I returned everything to normal, it'd start back up where it left off."  
  
"And the repercussions?" Misato asked, frowning at me.  
  
"The what?"  
  
"Everyone on the face of the earth melted into a puddle of LCL, and then came back... I doubt that's going to go over well with the population." Shigeru Aoba said. The other two bridge bunnies nodded.  
  
"Ahh.. well.. I doubt they remember the whole melting thing, right?"  
  
"That's not the point," Ritsuko growled.  
  
"Look, blame it on my ship or something. Hell, even in its High Orbit, I doubt its gone totally unnoticed by the more observant of people."  
  
"I... can we do that?" Ritsuko asked, turning to glance at Fuyutsuki.  
  
"It's as good an excuse as any. It absolves NERV of any responsibility."  
  
"And shifts it all to me." I said, to which the Sub-Commander merely nodded.  
  
"Okay, that's settled. Now what?"  
  
"Your ship," Makoto Hyuga said.  
  
"Oh, the Thunder. Well, what's there to say? Eleven miles long, a warship of epic proportions, and easily likened to, say, a floating fortress and aircraft carrier."  
  
"And it can kill an angel," Misato said, a hint of a grin on her face.  
  
"Yes, reports from the UN state that something destroyed the Ninth Angel from above... and the MAGI tracked your orbit to the time of destruction and placed your ship at the point of the blast's origin."  
  
"Damn thing took a heavy barrage from the Starboard side, though." I mumbled.  
  
"How powerful is that?" Dr. Akagi asked.  
  
"I don't know for sure... twelve or so heavy turbolaser batteries."  
  
"Is that all the turbolasers you have defending each side?" Dr. Akagi asked. I started laughing.  
  
"The Jupiter's Thunder has 50 heavy turbolaser batteries per side, and another 150 covering the front and rear arcs," Archer stated, while I calmed down.  
  
"250 heavy batteries, then?" Dr. Akagi asked.  
  
"As well as 250 light batteries, 250 Missile tubes, 250 Ion cannons, and 40 standard tractor beam emplacements."  
  
"That's..."  
  
"Don't forget the 38,000 Ground troops," I grinned.  
  
"Nor the fighters," Makoto added, helpfully.  
  
"And there are your ground assault vehicles," Nabiki said, smiling.  
  
"Yeah yeah... and with the W-D droids, I can make more in a jiffy," I muttered, though I was grinning as much as the rest of my side of the table.  
  
"So.. It's a warship." Makoto Hyuga summed up.  
  
"Yes, though it's primary role is as a command ship... I just haven't had time to make escorts yet."  
  
"Escorts?" Misato asked, frowning.  
  
"Sure," I nodded, "with the W-D droids, I can make construction drones, which will build Imperator Class Star Destroyers.. if that's what I chose for them to make."  
  
"Impressive," Kaji mumbled, from his end of the table.  
  
"Isn't it though?" Nei asked, grinning. Kaji blinked, his smile faltering for a moment as the closest clone spoke for the first time, before settling back into his typical pose.  
  
Anything else?" I asked the Doctor, who was looking somewhat paler than before.  
  
"Your... 'curse?'"  
  
"Oh, yeah. Forgot about that. What about it?"  
  
"..." The other side of the table stared.  
  
"Fine... It all starts with this whole Multiverse thing, and where Nabiki's from..."  
  
An hour of Jusenkyo and Ranma-Related questions later, the NERV staff had a better understanding of my curse, and how it worked.  
  
"I'd like to run some tests on your cursed form, if that's possible," Dr. Akagi said, finally.  
  
"What kind of tests?" Makoto asked, frowning.  
  
"He created an AT-Field... and merged with Lillith. It's a safe bet that there was a First Impact on your, "she nodded at Nabiki, "world, and I'd like to see if the similarities could indicate whether or not your future is our past."  
  
Nabiki blinked, then frowned, "Are there winged humans here?"  
  
"No-" Ritsuko started. Nabiki cut her off, "then it's a safe bet no."  
  
"Still, the chance to study an Angel, or maybe a sort of sub-species, could help us find a way to defeat them faster, with less danger to everyone."  
  
"Why bother? I still have, what? 238 more heavy turbolasers?"  
  
Fuyutsuki frowned, "are you offering to stay and slay every angel until the end?"  
  
I frowned at him, "Which end, Professor?"  
  
Dr. Akagi cleared her throat, "that's another thing we need to discuss... your allegations that the Commander, Sub-Commander and I intend to instigate a Third Impact at the completion of this war."  
  
"Well, does Gendo have Adam grafted to the palm of his hand?"  
  
Fuyutsuki frowned, "That's-"  
  
"True."  
  
"Dr. Akagi!" Fuyutsuki said, glaring at the blonde.  
  
"Sub-Commander, lying now would be counter productive," Ritsuko stated flatly.  
  
"So, at the cost of everyone else, you were willing to let Gendo carry on his plan to bring back Yui with a 'controlled' Third Impact." Nabiki said, scowling.  
  
"What?" Dr. Akagi shouted.  
  
"..." I blinked at the pseudo-blonde. She scowled at Fuyutsuki, "the papers I received stated that at the end of the war, NERV intended to try to take over the world, and the retaliatory strike ended up killing everyone off!"  
  
"Nice doctoring for such short notice," Nabiki said, a hint of admiration in her voice.  
  
"Wow... no wonder you denied everything," I said, smirking.  
  
"Of course I denied it! It wasn't true!" Ritsuko said, turning back to Fuyutsuki angrily.  
  
The Sub-Commander scowled, "The allegations made by these.. children, do not stand up to common sense!"  
  
"Dude, Gendo's treatment of Shinji doesn't stand up to common sense, either," I said. Call me a kid.  
  
"Not that being raised by the commander would have been much better," Misato amended quietly. Maya and Shigeru nodded slightly at this, and Fuyutsuki's frown grew deeper.  
  
"SEELE, as your papers stated, intend to cause Instrumentality. Gendo's role was to ensure that SEELE's collective consciousness was placed in charge of the new Godhood of man."  
  
"... well.. that verifies that part. Now to clarify: Gendo wanted to do basically what Kyle did. Create Instrumentality by combining an Angel of Adam with Lillith, and have a single human soul outside of an Eva control the whole process." Nabiki said.  
  
"No-" Fuyutsuki started. Nabiki cut him off, "-I'm not finished. Gendo wanted the power of God he'd find himself with to extract Yui's soul from Unit 01, so they could be together again. In the end, it's all about Gendo's dead wife."  
  
Fuyutsuki was now receiving questioning glares from everyone at the table.  
  
"I..."  
  
"You know, I wonder if spring of drowned girl water would work on Unit 01."  
  
"You think.." Dr. Akagi started, softly.  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"As much as I'd like to see Yui again, might it be safer to wait until we're positive the Angels are all taken care of?"  
  
The NERV side of the table nodded, and I shrugged, waiting for the quiet conversations taking place over there to finish.  
  
Finally, Fuyutsuki said, "We'll try your idea after the end of the war, once we're certain the Evangelions wont be needed to fight the angels anymore."  
  
"Don't forget SEELE," Misato reminded everyone.  
  
"SEELE... I'll see what I can do with the Thunder. Rooting out Keele should be easy enough, since he's somewhat popular, the others, though..."  
  
"I can get you the names of nine other members of the committee," Fuyutsuki offered.  
  
I nodded, then turned to look at Kaji, who was currently being stared at by everyone on my side of the table.  
  
"What!?" he asked, indignantly.  
  
"SEELE, NERV, and the Japanese Government," Nabiki said, evenly.  
  
"What about them?"  
  
"Oh, to Hell with this. Mako-chan? Think you could call SHODAN and get some copies of those papers sent down? The Unadulterated version?" I asked. My wife nodded and made her way to the door, frowning at Fuyutsuki as she passed him.  
  
"Wait!" Fuyutsuki said, as Makoto made her way through the door.  
  
"Relax, Sub-Commander. Deny it as much as you want, but everyone here knows the truth. That you're willing to try something less disastrous is noble but-"  
  
"I don't care about that anymore," he said, as if wiping his hands clean of something he was never involved with, "There are other things I'd not like the rest of the staff to know in those papers."  
  
"Honesty is the best policy, Sub-Commander," Nabiki said, scowling. Fuyutsuki returned the look for a moment, then deflated, nodding once as his erect pose gave way to a slouch.  
  
"Fine. Ikari, however, will not likely go along with this new course."  
  
Dr. Akagi frowned. Before she could voice her thoughts, however, Maya voiced what I'm sure was on everybody's mind. "What are we going to do about the Commander?"  
  
"Well... I doubt locking him up here would do good... and turning him over to the authorities would give SEELE a chance to get to him..." Nabiki muttered.  
  
"Give Gendo to us for the remainder of the war, and in return, we'll give you the assistance of the Jupiter's Thunder during any and all Angel attacks, and the Jusenkyo waters along with him at the conclusion."  
  
"And Adam?" Kaji asked.  
  
"Hmm.... We'd probably have to leave Adam here, or else the Angels might not feel the attraction to Adam and go elsewhere."  
  
Fuyutsuki nodded, and I grinned.  
  
"Okay, Dr. Akagi, you cut it out of his hand, and I'll take him off your hands," I said, smirking. Ritsuko rolled her eyes, then returned the smirk.  
  
"One more condition," she said, levelly. I was briefly tempted to remind her that I could vaporize the planet, but that hadn't worked on Cologne, either, so I just shrugged.  
  
"Those tests?"  
  
I rolled my eyes, "fine. After Makoto gets back, we'll go run these 'tests' of yours. What kind are they?"  
  
Makoto chose that moment to walk back in, a pile of identical folders in her hand. She quickly handed them out to everyone in the room who wasn't aware of all the facts, and Dr. Akagi briefly flipped through hers, before nodded and turning to Lieutenant Ibuki.  
  
"Maya, prepare the lab for a full physical, piloting exam, and synch-test."  
  
"Yes, sempai," Ibuki said, sliding out the door while flipping through the file in her hands.  
  
"Hey.. I'm 21, not 14!"  
  
"According to theory, an angel in an Evangelion should be able to synch better than anyone else."  
  
"But.. We're shooting the Angels down, now, remember?"  
  
"I'd rather be certain we have enough pilots to fight in case their AT- Fields grow strong enough to deflect your Turbolaser batteries," Dr. Akagi said.  
  
"... fair enough. Lead on, Doctor."  
  
A physical was nothing new to me. Of course, the last time I'd had one was entering the Army, and since then I'd been Empowered, Cursed, and Remade, so the results Ritsuko got from my normal form were much better than the doctors at the MEPS station.  
  
My female form, however, was something else.  
  
"Okay, up on the table, feet in the stirrups."  
  
"Dowha?"  
  
"You.. Oh. Right. I need to give you a gynec-"  
  
"Oh, HELL NO."  
  
"But-"  
  
"No."  
  
"It's-"  
  
"NO."  
  
"I've-"  
  
"Doctor? Which part of 'No' don't you understand? The 'N?' The 'O?' Or the period at the end?"  
  
"Millions of girls do this semiannually. It's nothing to be-"  
  
"I'm a guy. And an angel. IF I got some sort of... infection," I grimaced at the thought, "I'd change back and that'd be the end of it."  
  
"..."  
  
"See! And while some things aren't gender-specific, those are STDs.. and I'm not really going to be all that active... at all."  
  
"..."  
  
"So! What's next."  
  
"Get on the table."  
  
Fifteen minutes of the most fundamentally shaking experiences of my life later, I pulled my pants on, and glared.  
  
"You're so on my shit-list, Ritsuko."  
  
"Just think, we women have to do this every year at least. This will more than likely be your only time."  
  
"Yeah, still one time too many. Lets get this piloting test crap out of the way," I mumbled, trying to ignore the smirk on Ritsuko's face.  
  
"Here," Dr. Akagi said, handing me a plastic-wrapped bundle.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"It's a plugsuit. Let me find a neuro-link headset, and we'll start the synch test."  
  
I stared at the suit and wondered briefly who's spare it was, before tearing the plastic off and unfolding it.  
  
It was bright red, and obviously a girl's, meaning I was expected to do this in my cursed form. Looking around for a place to change, I ducked into a corner and quickly changed into it, wondering as I finished just how big the original owner of this outfit was.  
  
Ritsuko came back and tossed me a pair of things that I caught, then told me to put them on.  
  
"Where?"  
  
"... Your head."  
  
"Oh," I muttered, putting them on.  
  
"And push the button on your left wrist."  
  
"Okay," I said, doing so. The suit suddenly shrank, conforming to my cursed body and suddenly showing off every curve I didn't naturally have.  
  
"Err.. how tough is this material?" I asked, as Ritsuko led me through the corridors.  
  
"Very, though its not impervious, why?"  
  
"I need holes in the back around my shoulder blades for my wings to emerge through. If the material I'm wearing is too tough, they tend to phase through it and it totally screws up my concentration."  
  
"... I'll have to keep that in mind."  
  
"Hey, don't forget, Ritsuko, I'm 21, not a kid. This body may look a little younger, but I'm still me, and I'm not some introverted, easily-manipulated teenager. I'm just as capable of using people as you."  
  
"I haven't forgotten. I'm sorry. I just have a lot on my mind. Gendo was using me more than I could have imagined, and if reality holds true to theory, this test should give me a lot to think about, as well..."  
  
"Just don't think I'm here forever."  
  
"I'll do what I can with what time I have."  
  
We entered a large room, and Ritsuko waved me over to a large pod-like object that currently lay open, like a demented alligator mouth.  
  
"I just get in this thing here?" I asked, pointing.  
  
"Yes, Kyle. That's an Entry Plug," Lieutenant Ibuki said, now helping Dr. Akagi set multiple computers up for the upcoming test.  
  
"You two might want to see about automating all that... all this technology, and you still have a dozen and a half switches to flip and commands to enter," I said, climbing into the chair-like seat within the Entry Plug.  
  
A moment later, the lid slammed shut, and a harsh red light illuminated the interior.  
  
"What the-"  
  
"Kyle? This is Dr. Akagi. We're going to fill the Plug with LCL, then initiate the test. Just relax as the-"  
  
"Yeah, I can breathe this crap, right?"  
  
"LCL is hardly 'crap,' and yes, you can breathe it. It's more oxygenated than water, and oxygenates the blood directly."  
  
"So.. I can breathe it, but I don't even have to do that if I don't want?"  
  
"You can try, but your body wont let you hold your breath with an open airway, and if you close it, you'll run out of oxygen eventually."  
  
The fluid was now passing my neck, and I chuckled nervously, moments before I found my head submerged. Despite her assurances, I held my breath, not really wanting to breath a liquid. Or maybe it was instinct telling me that I'd not get far in life doing that. Whatever the reason, the air in my lungs grew steadily staler until I finally felt my lungs dump the Carbon Dioxide, and try to inhale. A moment later, I cracked open my eye, surprised to be breathing, despite knowing the LCL was oxygenated.  
  
An orange-ish light suffused the entry plug, and I frowned at the way the LCL smelled, like a handful of pennies, or blood.  
  
"Heeyy... This is the shit dripping out of Lillith's upper torso, isn't it?"  
  
"Umm..."  
  
"Oh, that's just... Ugh... I'd puke, if I knew I didn't have to breathe it in later."  
  
"Just.. don't think about that."  
  
"How come I can see clearly?"  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"I've opened my eyes underwater before, Doctor. The human eye isn't made to see through liquids... light acts differently, and as a result, everything looks fuzzy."  
  
"Those neuro-clips on your head transmit data into your head, clarifying instrumentation displays, and communications."  
  
"Oh... So why does my hand look clear.. and these funky handles.. and everything else that isn't a display?"  
  
"The entire entry plug is programmed into the clips, and with your plug suit on, so are you. Since you've been dimensionally-digitized, you can be clarified by the direct connection."  
  
"Keen..."  
  
"Anything else?"  
  
"Hmm.. How about sound?"  
  
"What about it?"  
  
"Well, an underwater speaker explains my hearing you, but how am I talking?"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Vocal Chords. They require a gas moving at precise speeds to vibrate and create sounds... right?"  
  
"The LCL is NOT water."  
  
"Or perflourocarbon..."  
  
"No, not that, either. It's actually thinner than water, and allows very limited vocalizations; on par with a whisper at its loudest. The neck of the plugsuit has a special vibration-sensitive microphone that converts the sound to audible speech. Again, with the neuro-clamps, the sound is augmented and sent into your brain and you end up hearing yourself, me, and anyone who calls you as if you were standing in a gaseous atmosphere."  
  
"Ohhh..... That's pretty cool. Now if only it didn't take angel blood to do all this..."  
  
"I told you to stop thinking about that. Sit back and relax, we're about to start the test."  
  
"No more questions?"  
  
"... no..." Dr. Akagi sounded preoccupied.  
  
Glancing around at the surprisingly sharp-looking entry plug, I waited for Dr. Akagi or Maya to contact me, and decided to play around with some of the buttons and knobs in front of me. Pushing one, a video screen appeared before me, though it only showed black, the other end apparently unavailable.. or working in the dark. Pressing another, a different screen appeared, this one also blank, and I quickly shut it off.  
  
"Well, this is dull..." I grabbed the two handles situated before me, and pulled, somewhat surprised that they stopped after a lengthy tug. Scooting down in my seat, I started rhythmic rowing-like motions with them, when suddenly.  
  
"Kyle. What are you doing?"  
  
"Err.."  
  
"I said sit back and relax. From what I can tell, you're not sitting back, and you're definitely not relaxing."  
  
"..."  
  
"Anytime, Kyle. The longer you take, the longer the testing takes."  
  
"Sorry, I'll.. err.. Yeah."  
  
Scooting back into my seat, I sighed. It was just comfortable enough to make you tired, but just uncomfortable enough to make sleeping impossible, unless you were extremely tired.  
  
I had started replaying Chrono Trigger in my head, something I did when really bored, when Dr. Akagi called me. I'd gotten to the battle with Magus, and winced as her call totally blew my concentration to pieces.  
  
"Huh?" I asked, having missed her first words.  
  
"I said we're done. Your results are... "  
  
"Are?"  
  
"Well, get out of there, and I'll show you what we've discovered."  
  
"... Okay."  
  
"Oh... yeah, Draining LCL and popping the hatch for you now."  
  
"Thanks," I deadpanned, watching as the fluid drained out the bottom. When My head was clear, I breathed out, and blinked as LCL poured down my front. Taking a breath, I suddenly started coughing, and bit more LCL drained out of my lungs, the air replacing it still smelling like blood, but not as bad as the LCL itself.  
  
"Right... that was... unpleasant" I said, clearing my throat and turning to look at the hatch, which was swinging open.  
  
Climbing out, I blinked at the bright lights, and turned to Dr. Akagi, who was leaning over a monitor with Maya, and pointing to various things while talking rapidly.  
  
"So, how'd I do?"  
  
Ritsuko turned to look at me, and I quirked a brow at her She signed, and stepped aside.  
  
"Well.. We're not sure. Your rate was high at first, then tapered off, and finally it became this," she said, pointing.  
  
"A Sine wave?" I asked, recognizing the wavy line.  
  
"Yes, staying around 30%, but going from 50% to 10% at its extremes."  
  
"So is that good or bad?"  
  
"It means you can Pilot... but how well you'll do still remains to be seen. You might flicker in and out of effectiveness, or you might be stay at 50%... or 10%, meaning you would hardly be able to move."  
  
"Ahh... Imagine that. Think you could show me to a shower? This stuff is thin in massive qualities, but it quickly becomes thick and sticky in the air."  
  
"It absorbs moisture and gasses from the atmosphere, and slowly degrades into bad LCL."  
  
"This doesn't feel like a 'slow' degradation to me, Doctor."  
  
"Its surface changes quickly. Think of it like a lake on a very very cold day. The surface starts to freeze, but underneath it's still water, right? Now imagine it doesn't freeze solid, the surface simply becomes slush, forming a barrier between the atmosphere and the underlying layer."  
  
"... So... LCL forms a sticky fluid in air, but it's only on the surface... Kind of like surface tension from hell."  
  
Ritsuko snorted, nodding as she opened a door for me.  
  
"There's a locker with your name on it, your clothes are in there."  
  
I nodded and entered, surprised to be in a rather large locker room. In the back, I heard the sound of a running shower, and frowned. Constantly running showers were a bite wasteful, weren't they? Even with the influx of water melting an icecap would cause.  
  
Entering the shower area, I froze, realizing it wasn't NERV being wasteful, but two pilots taking their showers.  
  
Rei turned to look at me with a rather blank expression, and Asuka stared for a moment, then scowled.  
  
"What are you doing wearing one of MY plug suits?"  
  
I blinked, then looked down at the red plugsuit currently wrapped around me like a second skin.  
  
"ahh..." Then I realized I was a couple feet away from falling water. Falling Hot water. And two naked teenage girls.  
  
"Right... I've got to run." I said, turning and walking out the door as quickly as I could.  
  
Spotting another door nearby, I opened it and sighed as It revealed another Locker room, obviously the men's.  
  
There was a shower running in there as well, and I sighed, wondering how quickly I could get under the hot water. Moving quickly, I stripped out of the plugsuit, and dove into an empty shower, avoiding looking at the kid showering nearby. Luck was with me as he seemed to be washing his face, and after I felt the familiar change, I began scrubbing off the LCL as best as I could, before stepping out, around the same time the boy nearby did.  
  
"Shinji, right?" I said, putting on a towel. The kid nodded, staring at me oddly, and I smiled, before realizing I was currently without clothes.  
  
"If Ritsuko planned this, I'm going to kill her."  
  
"Excuse me.. umm..." Shinji said behind me. I turned to look at him, quirking a brow.  
  
"Mmmhmm?"  
  
"This is the Pilot's locker room..."  
  
"Yeah, I just got done with a synch test myself. Sorry you guys had to gear up and everything for nothing earlier, by the way. I would have stopped that if I could.. especially now, knowing what it involves."  
  
"... You're... a pilot?"  
  
"I dunno. Maybe. Depends, apparently."  
  
"But... you're not Fourteen!"  
  
"I know. Great, isn't it? Not that there should be a need for Evangelions or Pilots anyway. I'm doing what I can to absolve you kids of the risk."  
  
"Aren't the Evas the only thing with enough power to take out an Angel?"  
  
"You didn't spot that giant dead Angel outside of town, apparently."  
  
"Something else killed an Angel?"  
  
"I did. Without an Eva or an AT-Field, or even a progressive knife."  
  
"But-"  
  
I put my hand on his shoulder, and grinned, "Hey, just trust me."  
  
"... Okay..." he said, sighing. Frowning at his lack of enthusiasm, I shrugged, then turned towards the sinks, and splashed myself with cold water, quickly moving my towel up before Shinji came around the row of lockers separating the two of us. After I was done, I snatched up the sticky plugsuit and left, entering the girls locker room, with a dressed Asuka and Rei turned to stare at me again. I frowned, and tossed Asuka her plugsuit before she could say anything, and quickly made my way over to my locker, where indeed, my clothes had been placed, apparently already cleaned.  
  
"Wait," Asuka said, as I headed through the door. I stopped, and turned to look at her.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"This is the-"  
  
"Pilot's Locker Room, yeah, I know. I just finished up a Synch test."  
  
"But.. you're not 14!"  
  
"Yeah, well, Certain skills apparently enable people to get around that little rule."  
  
"What kind of skills? Extreme embarrassment?"  
  
"Right... sorry about that. I was a little preoccupied. I didn't see much, though."  
  
"What! I've got more than you do, little miss high-and mighty. You're the Fourth, then?"  
  
"Probably the last, really. It's my goal to put this whole operation out of business."  
  
"What!?"  
  
"Hush, Kiddo. It'll all be made clear soon enough. Once again, sorry for walking in on you two, and have a nice afternoon. And Rei... don't blow a gasket when you find out what happened later," I said, slipping out the door.  
  
I started wandering around, unsure where exactly I was supposed to go, and finally I found an elevator that took me up and up, towards the surface. After a minute of steady, rapid rising, my cell phone beeped, letting me know that once again I could contact the Jupiter's Thunder. Pulling it out, I quickly called SHODAN.  
  
"SHODAN, It's me, one to beam aboard."  
  
"No flying?"  
  
"No, I just want you to beam me to my room, and my bed, and I want to sleep the sleep of the dead. And let NERV know that Gendo needs to be delivered ASAP."  
  
"As soon as your elevator stops, we'll beam you up."  
  
"Okay."  
  
When my room materialized around me, Makoto already asleep on the bed, I quickly made my way to the bathroom for a quick splash of hot water, before settling down beside Makoto and rapidly falling asleep.  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
That was fun... a LOT of dialogue, though. I didn't think It'd be that much. Oh well. The using of the Spring of Drowned Girl water has been used elsewhere, most recently (I think) in a fic posted to the FFML a couple weeks ago, and also in Spinal Injection, and.. well.. truth-be-told, it's not really that big a leap of imaginative skills, so while I wasn't thinking of either fic when I wrote that in, I will acknowledge that the idea has been used before, and will be again.  
  
And I know LCL was supposed to be gooey, but I sort of explained why it was, so it still works... kind of....  
  
Gah... I need to sleep.. but there's more I want to write, so.. time will tell, right?  
  
... Thanks to Aleh for the quick fixes where my spell checker is blind. 


	5. Chapter 5

After waking up and grabbing a bite to eat, Makoto and I made our way to the brig, where Gendo had been transferred while we were sleeping. Upon entering, the Commander of NERV glanced up from the bunk he'd been sitting on, then back at the wall, as if dismissing me.  
  
"Well, I'm not too happy about what you did to Captain Bowen, and I'm not sure how we'll extract payment for that, but I figured while you were here, I might as well tell you that plans are in motion to bring Yui back without killing everyone."  
  
Gendo didn't move when I started speaking, didn't give any indication that he was even listening. Then, when I said "Yui," his attention shifted and his typically stony demeanor was replaced by one of shock.  
  
Now that I had his attention, I decided to drive home my anger, "Whether or not it works, however, is of little relevance to you, since there's only a slim chance you'll get to see her once she's been restored."  
  
Makoto turned to leave, and a moment later, I left as well, the door closing behind me.  
  
After making our way to the bridge, I made my way over to Captain Archer, who was talking quietly with the Tactical Officers.  
  
"Captain Archer, I'd like one of the W-D droids activated in the system's Asteroid Belt."  
  
"Understood, my Lord. What would you like them configured to manufacture?"  
  
"Construction Drones and ship parts. Start building an escort Destroyer, as quickly as possible."  
  
"Understood... which class would you like the Destroyer to be?" Archer asked, waving a tech over as he did so.  
  
"Imperator, I suppose. Can the W-D's do Interdictor-types?"  
  
"The Gravity Well Generators would take some time for the Drones and Droids to manufacture, but they are possible, yes."  
  
"Keen... I'll keep that in mind. Just one Imperator type for now, though... as soon as possible. I don't know how long we're going to be here."  
  
"Understood, my Lord. Construction will begin immediately."  
  
Nodding, I turned to look at Makoto, who was currently conversing with a Captain I didn't recognize as one of the standard bridge crewmembers.  
  
"Hiya..." I started. The captain, a woman with an indeterminable age, quickly snapped to attention.  
  
"My Lord!"  
  
I frowned at Makoto, who'd smiled briefly at the exclamation.  
  
"Yes, well... What can I do for you Captain?"  
  
Makoto answered before the Captain could, "she's my," she paused for a moment, then signed, before continuing, "well, she's my new aide."  
  
I blinked, then nodded, glad that someone (or something) had taken care of handling Captain Bowen's position. Not really desperate to say anything on the subject, I turned towards the view port for a moment, staring out at the space near Earth, and the stars beyond, before turning to look at one of the many monitors scattered throughout the bridge.  
  
"SHODAN, send me down to NERV... and keep an eye out for Angels. Archer, get that escort started, then bring down 10 or so high-powered rifles... And someone give me a blaster."  
  
"What size?"  
  
"Handheld. A Pistol."  
  
One of the guards near the door came over and handed me his sidearm, and I stared at it, recognizing the design from Return of the Jedi. Shaking my head, I shoved the blaster into my pocket, hoping I wouldn't blow my foot off, and a moment later I materialized in one of the upper dining halls of NERV.  
  
There was a gasp behind me, and I spun, wondering who'd seen me beam in.  
  
"Oh.. it's.. err.. Ikari?"  
  
The young boy nodded, staring wide-eyed at me, and I shrugged, before looking around the room in confusion.  
  
"You know, whoever designed this place should be shot," I muttered, stepping into the hallway. Glancing over my shoulder, I smirked at the still-staring youth, then stepped to the side. "Think you could close your mouth and help me find my way to the Command Center?"  
  
Shinji blinked at that, closed his mouth, then nodded, "sorry."  
  
"No worries. I'd be a bit shocked too if someone just appeared in the middle of a supposedly-secured building."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"...never mind."  
  
The short time it took him to rescind a decision mentally, and then verbally take back what he'd said was somewhat surprising, and I glanced at him as he lead me deeper into the facility.  
  
"So, you're a pilot?" he finally asked, glancing up at me before taking me around another corner.  
  
"Well, sort of. I've got this curse that turns me into someone else, who can pilot..." I said, wondering as I spoke just how to best break the story of my curse to people who don't understand it.  
  
"Uh-huh," Shinji mumbled, obviously not believing me.  
  
"I'm serious!" I said as we stepped into another elevator. Shinji just quirked a brow at me, and I frowned back at him.  
  
"Trust me. I wouldn't lie about.. well, actually, I'm not really certain what kind of thing this is, but I doubt I'd lie about it..."  
  
Shinji stared at me as if I'd just admitted I was crazy, and I rolled my eyes, stepping past him out of the stopped elevator, and looking around for a drinking fountain. Spotting one, I motioned for him to follow me.  
  
"Watch. With cold water, I become!"  
  
And I splashed myself, grimacing at the ice-cold water I'd just thrown in my own face, and down my shirt.  
  
"What the?!?" Shinji shouted, jumping back as I shrunk.  
  
"Yeah. See. Cursed. To become this. With cold water. And in this form, I can pilot."  
  
"But.. that.. and.. you..." Shinji sputtered, his gaze shifting between my face, my chest, the water fountain, and then his eyelids as he squeezed his eyes closed.  
  
"Yeah, a real eye-opener... Only thing weirder would be piloting giant combat robots from inside giant pill-shaped pods full of a breathable fluid, in which you have to fight other giant beings that want to set of some spiritual chain reaction resulting in the dissolution of every man, woman, and child on the planet."  
  
"... But... well," he visibly calmed down, then grinned a little, "when you put it that way..."  
  
"Exactly. So.. to the Nerve center?"  
  
"Nerve Center?"  
  
"Yeah, you know... center of NERV.. Command Center?"  
  
"Oh, I thought you meant Central Dogma."  
  
"No, been there, saw that, accidentally killed everyone for a moment."  
  
"You mean that was YOU?"  
  
I felt my face flush, and I nodded, "it was an accident, though!" I said, when I saw his frown. I stopped in the hallway for a moment, surprised I was explaining myself to someone a few years past half my age, then shrugged, continuing on and hoping to help him understand.  
  
"Look, this body is.. just a body. I'm still my normal, human self up here," I said, pointing to my head. Shinji frowned at me as we rounded a corner, and I asked what was wrong.  
  
"Are you a boy or-"  
  
"A guy."  
  
"Are you sure? You keep talking like a girl."  
  
"I.. err.. oh..." I trailed of as I realized I did, indeed use the feminine form whenever in this body. How long had I been doing it?  
  
"Have I... damn! Have I always done it?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well.. Maybe it's a part of my wish? Perfect Japanese would mean correct term usage..." I mumbled, ignoring Shinji's questioning stare. After a moment of thinking it over, I shrugged, deciding not to bother worrying about it at the moment, and simply ascribing it to my earlier wish.  
  
Finally, we went through another doorway, and arrived at the Command Center. Shinji mumbled something, then turned to go. Before I could take more than three steps into the room, however, I heard something hit the floor, and I turned to find the Third Children sitting down on the floor and staring up at the three Rei's standing in the doorway.  
  
"You're back" one of them said, apparently speaking for the three of them. I grimaced, and decided then and there we'd need to get them nametags or individual uniforms or something to avoid the confusion three clones could conceivably cause.  
  
"You three are looking as unique as ever."  
  
Before they could respond, Dr. Akagi appeared, quite suddenly, a large frown on her face.  
  
"these three have been somewhat entertaining... but the others you released..." She trailed off, her frown deepening as she apparently remembered some slight or other one of the clones caused.  
  
"... the others...?" I prompted when it became apparent she wasn't going to finish on her own.  
  
"I'm not sure what the others are up to. They just appear, watch what's going on around them, then disappear."  
  
"Hmm," I 'hmm'ed, briefly smirking at the image of a whack-a-mole game with little Rei's popping out of the holes instead of vermin. Stifling the urge to suggest a mallet, I Helped a still-staring Shinji up, then turned towards the trio, "Well? Aren't your going to introduce yourselves?"  
  
"That'd be your job, Kyle-chan, remember? We don't know him, any more than you did before yesterday," the one on the left said.  
  
"It's rather obvious by the way he tried to avoid introducing us that he can't yet tell us apart," the one on the right replied.  
  
"Oh, come on you two," the third said, obviously the voice of reason in that trio.  
  
Rolling my eyes, I turned to Shinji, "Ladies, meet Shinji Ikari, Third Children, Pilot of Unit... 01?" When he nodded, I continued, "Yeah, and... err.. Gendo's kid." He winced at that. I couldn't really blame him.  
  
Turning towards the trio, I began the other half, "Step forward when I say your name, then? Shinji, meet the clones who's thought processes where patterned on people from that big ship in Orbit. There's Mei, based on Makoto Kino, my wife," Mei stepped forward, and Shinji bowed, but turned to look at me funny. I grinned back at him and continued, "Nei, based upon Nabiki Tendo, a.. err.. close family friend..." I stumbled, wondering just what Nabiki was to Makoto and I.  
  
"You should let her know that's how you think of her," Nei said, levelly. Blinking at that, I nodded, noting to myself that I would at some point in the near future. Turning back to the remaining clone, I rolled my eyes at the way she started gazing at me, and began looking for some hot water while I finished up, "and this is Kei, copied off me, though much more loosely than the other two."  
  
"Hey!" Kei objected, taking a surprised Shinji's hand and shaking it before stepping past him and joining the other two.  
  
"So, do you three need something?" I asked, when I realized they were staring at me again.  
  
"Yes, actually," Nei said, while Shinji stood there, apparently trying to wrap his brain around what I'd just told him.  
  
Finally, "... Rei...?"  
  
I rolled my eyes, "No, I just told you.. oh," I realized the First Children was standing in the doorway, looking blankly at the trio. At least, I assumed it was the First.... While the others I'd seen (and released) were apparently content to run around naked, this one was dressed in a blue- green schoolgirl outfit, and seemed somewhat more 'there' than the mindless clones we'd run across before I melted everyone.  
  
"Actually, Ritsuko, I haven't seen- Thanks," I thanked her, as I took the glass of hot water she'd apparently gotten for me, " I haven't seen any clones, save these three. Maybe they're avoiding me?"  
  
"You've just been lucky," she mumbled, before making her way over to the Rei in the doorway.  
  
"You're early today, Rei," Ritsuko said, a moment before the two headed out the door.  
  
"So what was it you three wanted again?" I asked, trying to keep the hot water from soaking my clothes any more than necessary.  
  
"When will you be returning to your ship?" Nei asked.  
  
"Err.. I don't know, why?"  
  
"We'd... we'd like to come with you when you leave," Mei said after a moment of silence.  
  
I stared at them, then shrugged, "Alrighty. But not on my ship." The trio stared at me, and I grinned, "I'm building another, and now I have some of the command staff for it. I just have to figure out who gets to sit in charge."  
  
"That's easy enough," the three said in unison. Then they started glaring at each other. Rolling my eyes, I turned and made my way over to the odd- shaped elevator that would take me up to where Fuyutsuki stood.  
  
"Back so soon?" He asked as the lift stopped. Shrugging, I made my way over to the currently empty desk and sat down, tossing my feet on the surface and leaning back in the surprisingly comfortable chair.  
  
"You're in charge of NERV now, right?" I asked, rolling my eyes to look at him. Fuyutsuki stared at me for a moment, then nodded, And I turned back to look at the angled holographic display of the general area.  
  
"Think you could hook me up with some sort of NERV commission, me and my command crew, anyway? So there's less confusion in the event of an emergency?"  
  
"I..." Fuyutsuki started, then paused, apparently thinking it over for a minute, before continuing, "what ranks did you have in mind?"  
  
I shrugged, "Actually, I just thought it up on the spot. But, since you asked, something around command-level, so there's little chance of misunderstandings. True command, and positions wouldn't change, but ranks could be shared."  
  
"And pay?"  
  
"What about it? I own an eleven mile long starship. I'm fairly certain if I were desperate for money, I could hold the world, or a nation hostage. Or sell some small bit of technology."  
  
"True enough. That will allow me to avoid mentioning to the UN your existence for a little while longer."  
  
"Always a bonus," I commented, wondering just what the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was sticking together to fight, what with the fall of the Soviet Union almost 40 years prior. Was China still communist? Then I frowned, wondering if China was much of anything, after losing so much oceanfront property. Hell, what about Washington DC? My hometown was certainly under a considerable amount of water, and while it didn't matter so much here, it was still something to speculate on in my free time.  
  
"Well?" Fuyutsuki said, bringing me back to reality.  
  
"Err, how about your old rank for me, and something a spot or two below for Makoto and Nabiki. Captain Archer and.." I trailed off as I realized I'd not learned Makoto's new aide's name.  
  
"-and?" The Commander prompted as I trailed off. I turned to frown at him.  
  
"Calm down. We're not fighting anyone right now, and you didn't look too busy when I came up here, so it's not like I'm holding you up for anything of drastic importance."  
  
"True enough, but the sooner we conclude this.. conversation, the sooner I can let NERV Personnel know your new ranks, therefore giving you the autonomy you seem so set on gaining."  
  
"Yeah. Well, just give the Captains Captain ranking, and that should be about it. If any of my crew come down, use their corresponding ranks within the US Military's ranking system for Army/Naval Personnel."  
  
"Should I be expecting a large number of guests?" Fuyutsuki asked, quirking a brow at me.  
  
"Not unless you want to. If you'd like, we could work out some sort of staggered schedule to relieve your staff at times.. Non-essential personnel, guards.. you know."  
  
Fuyutsuki blinked, then frowned, "And without pay?"  
  
"No, I'll pay my crew, and you can keep the pay for the covered shifts to buffer NERV's expenses."  
  
Fuyutsuki nodded, and made his way to the desk, where I shifted to let him type on the computer embedded within for a moment. Pausing for a moment, he turned to me, "why so generous, all of the sudden?"  
  
I held my arms out innocently, but smirked conspiratorially, "First off, it helps you with any money troubles you may or may not have, and second off, it lets me keep a small armed group of soldiers nearby incase anything problematic arises."  
  
Fuyutsuki frowned for a moment, then nodded, continuing typing. When he finished, a hidden speaker beeped once, and the Commander stood, then smirked down at me.  
  
"I believe that's my desk, Sub-Commander."  
  
Blinking, I realized he was right, and shrugged, stepping aside so he could sit down. Looking around for a moment, I realized that was the only seat available on this level.  
  
"Where's my seat and desk?"  
  
"The Sub-Commander stands behind the Commander at all times, and in all decisions."  
  
"..." I frowned, "Not this Sub-Commander. If NERV and the forces of the Jupiter's thunder are going to work together, next time I come up here my chair had better be in place.  
  
"...your chair?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll send down a copy of my chair on the bridge of the Thunder. Really comfortable. Built-in electronics and stuff. Since I'm a Sub- Commander, I should have enough access to your computer system to let SHODAN interface and set up some transcription software so that it's as connected as your desk."  
  
Fuyutsuki looked at the desk, then frowned, "how comfortable are they?"  
  
"A little more than that one. You lose the ability to lean back, but you gain a head rest and a built-in massage unit for those really shitty days."  
  
"... Your chair will be installed under one condition, Sub-Commander."  
  
"What's that, Commander?"  
  
"You obtain a second chair for me. This desk is a little too Gendo for me."  
  
Smirking, I nodded, then hopped on the elevator, taking it back down to the rest of the bridge. Halfway to the door, I was met by a NERV officer that I didn't recognize at all, and handed a pair of cards that I realized with a glance were my NERV ID's.  
  
"Fast work, " I mumbled, surprised at how much information was displayed.  
  
"Wait a second," I asked, spotting something I know I hadn't specified., "Why Lyla for my cursed form?"  
  
The NERV staffer blinked, then sighed, "You just cost me a day's pay. The Computer that printed the card for delivery noted that you'd ask that, and, well, here," he said, handing me a piece of paper.  
  
The brief note was from Nabiki, who'd assumed I'd ask for IDs for everyone, and provided information for everyone, as well as what to designate my cursed form. Crumpling the paper in my hand, I smirked, then handed it back to him.  
  
"Sorry about that pay-thing. Curiosity, and all, you know?"  
  
"Not a problem, sir. Anything else I can do for you?"  
  
Staring at him for a moment, I realized he'd probably looked at the card and understood that I was a Sub-Commander of NERV, and his superior. Shaking my head, I dismissed him, and he disappeared into the hall, leaving me with two IDs, and nowhere to go.  
  
"Well, now what?" I muttered, looking around as I shoved the two cards into my pocket.  
  
"That depends on where you want to go," someone said behind me. I jumped and turned, to see Lieutenant Ibuki smirking at me.  
  
"You didn't strike me as the tricky type, Ibuki," I muttered.  
  
"I'm not, usually. You looked lost, though, so I thought I'd offer some help."  
  
"Hmm.. a map? Something to do... you and the doctor make heads or tails of that synch test?"  
  
"We're still going over it, mostly, but we think you'd do fine in an undesignated Eva. Unfortunately, according to the paperwork you brought with you, unit 03 is going to become infected, unit 04 is going to disappear when its S2 engine malfunctions, and the Mass Production Eva's.. well..." She trailed off, and I saw her shudder as she remembered what she'd read. Not that I blamed her.  
  
"Well hey, this is different, right? With some talking, I'm certain we can talk NERV-Nevada into postponing the S2 test."  
  
"Then Unit 03 wouldn't be shipped to us when they fear a repeat of the original test."  
  
"Hmm... good point. I can always send an AT-AT Barge to take them. I doubt there'd be much they could do to stop me."  
  
"But that would jeopardize our funding!"  
  
"Well it's not the only option. Maybe I can call them and offer a trade of some sort, or the paperwork you all got."  
  
Maya nodded at this, and I shrugged, "I've still got a while before that happens, enough time to work out a workable plan. Heck, with two more units, you'll have one for all your pilots, one for me, and a spare for.. whatever..."  
  
"And the Mass Production Evas?"  
  
I shrugged, "wherever they're being built... I don't know. Asuka is, apparently, capable of taking on all of them on, but since they regenerate, and are dummy-plugged, whether or not they'll be easily defeated is a little hard to say."  
  
"Well, if their S2 Engine were destroyed, like an Angel's Core, that should stop them for good."  
  
"Yeah, but we don't even know where those are. I wish I'd seen what kind of damage Asuka did to those others, though... would help in narrowing down an area to attack."  
  
"... I suppose..."  
  
Smiling, I gave her a rather viscous grin, "Don't worry. Worse to worse, we fight 'em.. and there's more to my ship than turbolasers."  
  
"If you say so,' she didn't sound convinced. Shrugging, I patted her on the head, earning an indignant glare, then turned towards the hallway stretching out before us.  
  
"And now, Lieutenant.. it's time to find out where I am in this demented collection of corridors and tunnels," and with that, I left Ibuki standing there, and began mapping my way throughout the facility.  
  
---------------------------------------------   
So.. fast, eh? Guess I'm on a roll, or something. Don't really know why says I have 6 chapters up when it's only 5, though... oh well.  
  
Thanks go to Nate for spotting some errors this time around... now to get to bed. 


	6. Chapter 6

NERV was big. An understatement, I suppose, and pointless to mention to those who knew it, but still, as I wandered the corridors of the facility, I wondered just what all this space was needed for. I mean, sure, the Evangelions were huge, and the armor made sense, but the miles of hallways, moving platforms, escalators, elevators... I pitied NERV's janitorial forces.

Of course, with an eleven-mile long spaceship up in orbit, I wasn't really one to criticize. Even if it was nice and powerful. Not that it got much use.

My Datapad beeped, signifying a message from the Thunder. A moment later, recessed lights and a myriad of speakers around me started flashing and wailing, drowning out whatever SHODAN might've been saying.

"SHODAN, Kill the audio-alarms in this sector!" I shouted, hoping the AI could hear me over the unruly noise level. A moment later the volume fell dramatically, and I turned back to the device SHODAN was trying to reach me through.

"An angel has been spotted in a Low Earth Orbit. It's current trajectory will take it over your location in a matter of hours."

"Oh, this is that falling-bomb one, then?"

"I'll pretend you didn't ask me that," SHODAN quipped.

I shrugged, "Blow it out of the sky. See if you can vaporize it, or at least break it up into little, less-dangerous pieces. Use as much firepower as needed. I'll, watch from the bridge."

"Understood. Moving to intercept." SHODAN said, before disappearing from the screen. Her digitized face was suddenly replaced by a map of NERV, a red line leading towards the bridge, and a "You Are Here" dot at the other end. Rolling my eyes, I started following the specified path, and wondered if Misato could get one of these. No reason why not.

Taking the final lift, which would deposit me on the command level of the bridge, I took my seat and watched the Holographic Display that SHODAN fed the MAGI in real-time. The large screen behind it was currently filled with a satellite's view of the Angel, and, off in the distance, the slowly growing Jupiter's thunder as it moved to intercept.

"This ought to be interesting," I mumbled.

"Now we'll get to see the true power of this ship of yours," Fuyutsuki said, nodding.

"Yeah. Lets see what all she uses," I replied, as the first lance of green reached across space for the floating blob. The shot bounced harmlessly off the Angel's AT-Field, and I sighed.

"Forgot about those," I mumbled.

"A deceptively powerful defense mechanism," Dr. Akagi said, glancing up at us for a moment before turning to Misato.

"Launch Eva's!" The Purple-haired major cried.

"Huh?" I asked, as one of the screens charted the course of the three Units on their way up to the city.

"After reviewing how this would most likely be done, the Major and I decided to send the three Units out to catch any debris, or, if your ship missed, the Angel itself," Dr. Akagi explained.

"Oh. Yeah, that would make sense, I suppose," I said, turning back to the screen. As the three units emerged from the ground, the Thunder, now taking up a significant portion of the main screen, suddenly let loose a torrent of shots, the tapered hull allowing almost every weapon fire at the Angel ahead.

The orange octagonal AT-Field sprang into existence, but much like before, it was torn apart by the combined firepower of all the Thunder's Heavy weapons. The center of the angel was hit, and a moment later, the green blasts began emerging from the other side, continuing off into space. The Thunder stopped firing a moment later, as the Angel floated there, it's shape slowly starting to warp.

"Um.. shouldn't it have exploded or something?" I asked. A moment later, 6 piece of the angel launched at the ship, each one the size of a large building.

My Datapad beeped, and SHODAN's voice echoed through it and the speakers situated around the bridge.

"Target not neutralized, and retaliating."

"Destroy those blobs," I said, scowling as the orange-ish objects raced through space towards my ship. Three were destroyed a moment later, Two more suddenly slowed, apparently captured by the ships Tractor beams, and the third exploded spectacularly, filling the screen with a harsh white light that took a moment to clear.

"SHODAN!? SHODAN?" I said, shouting into the Datapad. A moment later, the screen cleared, and I saw the Thunder floating there, apparently unharmed.

"Sorry about the lack of transmissions, Kyle. SHODAN Cut power to all non-combat systems and fed it into the shields," Makoto's voice came back.

"Ahh.. that was unnerving. I'll have to keep that in mind next time. How're things?"

"Aside from everyone being a little shaken up? We're fine. The shields caught it, but we lost one of the projectors. I think the power surge to it, and the impact of the Angel overloaded it."

"I.. Huh. The Shields on that should have been able to stop that... they managed to catch three Star Destroyers as they emerged from Hyperspace traveling near the speed of light," I replied, frowning.

There was a moment of silence, then Makoto said, "SHODAN says... you tell him all that!"

"The Angel's 'parts' reacted violently with the shield, and detonated quite spectacularly. While it was not nuclear in type, the power of the blast was equivalent to a small tactical nuclear warhead, and the blast was quite concentrated on the shields. Shielding failed in that area, and power was rerouted to the subsidiary shields which brought down communications for a moment. Be glad this Angel did not impact with Tokyo-3."

"...oh," I said, turning to look at Fuyutsuki, who looked somewhat pale. Glancing down at Dr. Akagi, who also looked a little shaky, I shrugged, "Okay. See what the Ion cannons and Proton Torpedoes do. If this thing can launch uber-nukes at us, I want it destroyed."

"Understood," SHODAN replied, a moment before a blue glove of light left the Thunder and struck the Angel with no apparent effect.

"Scratch off the Ion cannons, " I mumbled, as a relatively small dot of light left the Thunder towards the Angel. When it struck, however, there was a flash of light, and when the screen cleared, a large portion of the Angel was missing.

"Was that nuclear?" Fuyutsuki asked, sitting forward.

"Yeah, Thermonuclear, I think," I replied, as five more torpedoes were launched.

"You do realize that the UN will wonder why we were employing Nukes in a battle along the outer reaches of the upper atmosphere," he replied.

"Sure, tell them we were strengthening the Van Allen Radiation Belts, or something," I said, waving his concern off. The Torpedoes continues to eat away at the Angel while the two projectiles successfully captured by the Thunder's tractor beams were slowly ripped apart by the first combat-use of the Tractor-weapons developed oh-so-long ago.

A final Proton Torpedo hit the last remaining fragment of the Angel, which exploded spectacularly, the core apparently somewhere within that final piece. As this happened, the many small globules of Angel being torn asunder by the tractor beams began to dissolve, until the beams were holding nothing.

"Hmm... What's next?" I asked, standing up.

"What's next?" Dr. Akagi asked, staring at me wide-eyed. I nodded.

"Well..." She paused, apparently trying to figure out just what was next. After a moment, she nodded, and glanced up at me, "First we'll have to work on a theory to explain the metamorphosis from Angel-tissue to fissionable Uranium. Then we'll probably test the theory using what bits remain from the Angel Bodies that weren't fully vaporized."

"Sounds like fun. In a boring sort of way. What're the Kids doing?"

"They had synch tests scheduled for this evening, but since they all synched fine, I'm willing to let them off for the next couple days. However..." she said, glancing down at her Datapad and trailing off.

"-However...?"

"You're slated for a couple tests in the simulated bodies, later, and those aren't as easily brushed off."

"... more tests?" I asked, frowning.

"Yes. But don't worry, there's no pelvic exam this time," she replied, not bothering to look up at me as she jotted something down on her pad. Or maybe she was hiding a smile. Whatever it was, I shivered, then nodded, "I'll take your tests... but you'd best be ready for the reprisal if I don't like them."

"I'm willing to accept the risks," she replied, before slipping out the door.

"She's much nicer when she's off duty," I told Fuyutsuki. He just snorted, before typing up what I assumed was a report of the day's festivities to whomever needed such a report. I left, quickly getting my appointment time from Ibuki before beaming up the Thunder.

"Well that was fun. Anything happen while I was away?"

"nothing to report at the moment," SHODAN replied. I nodded.

"How goes the construction?"

"Steadily."

"Great! How are you getting along with the MAGI?"

"The three of them aren't anywhere near my level, though they could run circles around much of what I saw before."

"Ahh.. Terran Confederations NAVCOM AIs?"

"Pathetic excuses for an AI. No imagination, no sentience, merely a glorified system that played a 3D game of connect-the-dots."

"Well it worked for them. So the MAGI are easy to subdue in case of an emergency?"

"With your move to the position of Sub-Commander, and the lack of secrets you don't already know, your access is almost complete. And your access is my access."

"So.. you can combat the MAGI without much of a fuss?"

"You plan on hijacking NERV, Kyle?" Nabiki asked, coming up from behind me.

"Nah, just remembering the summary of the movie. If SEELE has access to a few MAGI-level computers, It would be nice to know we can overpower them."

"If that is the case, It might be best to modify the MAGI so such an attack would be less an 'attack' and more a mere disturbance," SHODAN suggested.

"You think you can talk to Dr. Akagi about that?" Makoto asked.

"I could do it now without much trouble."

"You could, but then we'd alienate NERV more than I'd care to," I replied, frowning.

"Very well. Following your tests, I'll confer with the Doctor about modifying her pathetic computer into a respectable and semi-competent AI."

"Haughty, isn't she?" Nabiki quipped, rolling her eyes.

"If you were to compare us, Admiral, you'd find a significant lack of zero's when looking over the base numbers. And that's before I reached full sentience."

"Before or after the decimal point?" Makoto asked, smirking.

"Pitiful Humans," SHODAN mumbled, before going silent. She was still there, but apparently the conversation was no longer interesting for her.

"Well," I exclaimed after a moment of silence, "Lets get back down to the good old Geofront for some testing and what-not."

A few hours later I stepped out of the Entry plug and glared at the doctor, who was frowning as well, but at the computer, and ignoring me.

"You enjoy that Doctor?" I asked icily, as someone handed me a towel.

"No. Busy now. Results later." She replied, her face glued to the screen before her. Rolling my eyes, I left, heading for the shower. After a quick spray, and a change into something a little more comfortable than a plug suit, I made my way to the bridge.

Hyuga and Aoba were there, working on something, though they paused when I entered.

"Carry on," I mumbled, making my way over to the little lift that would take me to the command level. Flopping down into my chair, I called up a list of plans for NERV in the near future, then slipped through a door in the back wall that lead to the sub-commander's office. With Fuyutsuki's Promotion, the office had been stripped, and I'd had a small bed and shower installed in the otherwise barren room. Placing my Datapad on the pillow next to my head, I quickly fell asleep, wondering how many times I changed shape inside the damn entry plug.

The next month was spent in perpetual meetings, interspersed by short breaks, other meetings, and what little bits of private time I could steal here and there. As time carried on, I noted with some discomfort the abundance of activities to be done. If there wasn't a test, there was maintenance, if no maintenance, upgrading, if no upgrading, then a meeting.

I recalled from my time back home, someone saying that Eva was a show about "a lot of fucked up people." Glancing at the giant hulking shape of Unit 00, currently being refitted with some new armor piece or something, I realized that, with everything this busy, it'd be hard not to be a little messed up.

Of course, having SHODAN get me detailed files on pertinent personnel helped immensely when it came to figuring out what was wrong, or what had caused it. And so, as the clock struck Six PM, I turned and headed towards the Pilot's briefing room, Smiling to myself as I heard the PA call most of the primary staff to that location. Having spent a good portion of my time being poked and prodded by Dr. Akagi, I was relatively certain she'd ignore the call. The others, however...

"What's going on?"

"I do not know."

"If the doll's unsure, it's probably no good."

"Relax, you three, I'm sure it's nothing major."

The voices from inside were rather easily identified, and my smirk became a smile as I slipped inside.

"Misato is correct in her assessment, it isn't an emergency. In fact, it's the opposite."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that this is good news, Asuka." I replied to the redhead, who still seemed annoyed that I called everyone by their first name.

Turning around, I hefted a bundle of papers from the desk at the front of the room and held them out.

"These are reports, evaluations, and observation files the MAGI compiled for me."

"... You aren't going to have us sort them, are you?" Misato asked, scowling.

"Of course not! These are evaluations of you all... and.. well.. everyone else I summoned that didn't feel like coming."

"Sorry, Sub-Commander... Sem- Dr. Akagi is in the middle of an upgrade to the MAGI-" Lieutenant Ibuki started, before I held my hand up to silence her. Unfortunately, the move sent the stack of papers to the floor, where they scarred everywhere. Glancing down at them, I began speaking again, "Well.. Down there somewhere is a large batch of papers on the good doctor, as well."

"But-"

"Don't worry about it. My point," I said, walking down the center isle, "is that... prior management," I nearly spat those words out, "failed to supply the personnel here with adequate schedules."

"But Father... Commander... He worked us to death!" Shinji cried.

I quirked a brow at him.

"Sorry," he muttered quickly, before I could answer him.

I rolled my eyes, and turned towards the others, "I meant he didn't supply you with enough R&R. Rest and Recuperation time. There are three pilots. Four if you count me. And since I've proven the Marduk Institute is bogus, and your entire class is candidates for piloting, I'm fairly certain it's safe to allow a little leeway. Section 2 might actually earn its paycheck now."

"You mean.. you're giving us some time off?" Misato asked, wide-eyed.

"Captain, I'm ordering you to take some time off. Go out, have fun, keep your phones on you at all times... that sort of thing."

"But.. Why?" Asuka queried, her expression much like Misato's.

"Aside from my spaceship, which took out two Angels?"

Asuka growled at that and crossed her arms, "my Unit-02 could have done it, too."

"I don't doubt it. Well.. not.. okay, I do. Anyway," I muttered, watching the second turn as red as her A-10 Nerve clips, "Since this city is somewhat lacking in the entertainment department, I've had a couple basic modifications done to the Thunder..."

"Modifications," Misato inquired.

"Yeah. SHODAN set up a theater, playing anything you can bring her, or she has on file... we also have Flight Simulators for TIE-Fighters, as well as the real-deal, once you spend a couple hours learning how to control them."

"You mean.. you're going to let us fly spaceships?" Shinji asked, sounding somewhat amazed.

"Well, star fighters, really. Or Snub fighters... hmm.. I'm not certain on the terminology, really. The can jet around a Solar System, but no interstellar travel."

"Sub-Commander, I don't think-" Captain Katsuragi began. I slid over to her and said quietly into her ear, "SHODAN will teleport them back onto the ship if they start to go out of range, and she can override the controls at any time."

"Oh," the Captain responded, apparently satisfied.

"So you see, go out, have fun... all that jazz. Get out of here," I said, before walking out the door. Behind me, I heard the conversation start up, and I hoped they all took my advice.

"Sub-Commander?"

I winced. Rei... this.. would be difficult.

"Yes, Rei?" I asked, turning to look at her. Unlike Mei, Nei, Kei, or any of the random clones that popped up on occasion, this Rei had an odd look in her eyes... not lifeless, but not quite human, either. Not that she was, but still.

"Your orders to the others, are they to apply to me as well?"

"One-Hundred and ten percent, Rei. Gendo might have had you on a tight- if invisible- leash, but the MAGI and SHODAN both feel you're also in need of rest and recuperation."

"I-" she paused, apparently not sure what to say.

"You..." I prompted, patiently.

"I am... unaware of how I should go about this new task," she said, finally.

"Well, for one thing, don't look at it like it's a task."

"How can I do that?"

I sighed, and opened a nearby door to an empty dining room, motioning for her to follow me over to a table.

When we were seated across from each other (and I had a Coke to sip from, I began, "What you need to do, Rei, is establish for yourself a list of likes and dislikes. It doesn't have to be all that long, but one of each is not going to last too long."

"I dislike meat."

"Like so! Great. What do you like?"

"I find it enjoyable when complimented on a job well done by my superiors."

I thought I caught a pause before the 'my superiors,' and I wondered if I was included on that list yet or not.

"Well, Most people like compliments. I was thinking more along the lines of activities."

"I pilot Unit 00. Is that not sufficient?"

I blinked at that, "err... not quite what I meant. What... what do you do in your spare time?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"You just sit and stare at the walls?"

"No."

"No?"

"I usually lay and stare at the ceiling."

"...was that a joke?"

"Not that I am aware of, Sub-Commander."

"Sarcasm?"

"I believe we are getting off-subject, Sir."

"Too true," I said, taking a rather large gulp of Coke.

"Sir?"

"Right right. Okay. Here's how it works.. at least, for me. Go out and try random things that look entertaining, challenging, fun, or even unusual."

"I have to visually verify this?"

"No, you can rely on suggestions from people you trust, or even overheard conversations, if you feel the topic was worth a try."

"Is that all?"

"No.. Once you've done these things, remember the ones that you enjoyed. Next time you find yourself.. err.. laying down and staring at the ceiling, go out and do one of them, instead."

"So, compile a list of enjoyable past-times by observation or word-of-mouth, experience each, and pursue those I find more enjoyable than my previous recreational activity when I have the time to do so?"

"... Exactly," I said, after deciphering what she'd said.

"When should I begin?"

"Not time like the present," I said, waving my Coke at the door. Rei turned to look at it, then back at me, before nodding and standing up to go. Before she'd made it out the door, however, she paused, and turned to look at me.

"Sub-Commander?"

"Hmm?"

"What activities are not allowed?"

"Err.. Don't get yourself killed, maimed, mutilated, or tortured."

"Understood," she said, before slipping out the door. Glancing around the empty room, I shrugged, grabbed my coke, and took it with me as I left for the bridge.

Around the next corner, I spotted Shinji and Rei talking, and wondered if she was asking him for ideas.

"Ikari-kun, I would like to try something, but I need your assistance."

".. Sure Rei, what is it?" Shinji asked, looking somewhat surprised.

As I passed by them, I waved with two fingers as I took another sip of my Coke.

"I would like to try 'getting laid.' I've heard it's enjoyable."

I blew the Coke I'd been about to swallow out my mouth and nose, then cringed as the carbonated beverage fizzed inside my nostrils, sending spikes of pain shooting through my head.

Doing my best to contain my screams of agony, I glanced with watering eyes at Shinji and Rei, the latter standing poised as usual, and the former looking like his head was about to explode.

Taking a breath (and wincing as my nostrils burned at the slightest current) I straightened up and turned to them, "None of that, either!"

"Understood," Rei replied, while Shinji continued to tremble in place.

As I staggered away, I heard Rei's quiet voice once more, "Ikari?"

A squeak was the only reply she got, as far as I could tell.

"That was... funny."

Growling, I tossed the empty coke can at the wall, and walked away, doing my best to wipe the soda from my face without staining my uniform any more than I had to.


	7. Chapter 7

With the staff of NERV given more off-time to do as they please, the next couple weeks went well, as integration between my ship and the organization continued.

There was a brief bit of excitement when, as expected, Ireul, the 11th Angel made its appearance. With the bolstered MAGI and SHODAN to contend with however, it was wiped out a couple seconds after it became capable of interfacing with the computer systems.

Currently, I was doing my best to talk to someone I wasn't quite sure exactly how to deal with.

"So, Sub-Commander, what can I do for you today?" Ryouji Kaji asked with a smirk.

"I'm sure you can guess," I said, flatly. His smile faltered, strengthened, then totally fell.

"Yeah. Not exactly how I would have wanted to go out..."

"I can imagine. Still, NERV knows, and I, for one, don't really care all that much. Just so long as you don't kidnap me," I stated, with a smirk.

The thrice-employed spy grinned, then glanced around, before looking expectantly at me.

"Yeah, I know you're wondering why you're here. Truth is, we need your help. You work for SEELE, and can help SHODAN root them out faster than her searching on her own can."

"And if they figure out I'm helping?"

"You don't really think they can get to you here, do you?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes. And you know it," he replied.

"Yeah, so I do. So! Here's what I'm going to do. You are to be transferred aboard the Jupiter's Thunder for the remainder of this little Angel War."

"What! But-" He protested. I cut him off,

"You're free to use SHODAN as much as you want to discover whatever truths are left untold."

"Err,"

I smirked. With everything I'd handed them, Kaji's quest for the truth was, for all intents and purposes, done.

"I'm rather useful, couldn't you keep me down here?" he asked, still unhappy with his new assignment.

"You are useful. That's why I'm putting you somewhere safe. You're no use to anybody, yourself included, if SEELE manages to silence you."

"SEELE isn't going to accept my loss that easily. I've not told them about you, but I'm sure they already know, and are planning something."

"I can imagine," I muttered, remembering what I'd read of the Movie's summary, "still, NERV is now under the protection of the Galactic Empire. If it's a fight they seek, they'll find NERV defended by more than just a bunch of security guards in Berets."

"Will Misato be allowed to visit me?"

"Oh, that's right, I heard you two were patching things up... kind of."

"Where.. oh, yeah, Section 2."

"They do a great job of keeping tabs on everyone but the pilots, it seems," I muttered. While I was impressed with the detailed reports filed daily by the security detail, their disregard for their most important charges was rather irksome.

Kaji stood and strolled out the door, not bothering for a dismissal, and I stared at the wall for a moment, before grabbing my Datapad.

"SHODAN, Where are the Pilots?"

"Shinji, Asuka, and Rei are currently undergoing tests, but will be released shortly."

"Bridge-level Staff?"

"Makoto and Shigeru are drinking at a bar on the southern side of Tokyo-3, Maya is assisting Dr. Akagi with the tests, while Misato hovers over them."

I chuckled at that, while SHODAN continued, "Commander Fuyutsuki is doing paperwork on the MAGI, and trying to stall for time with SEELE."

"How much of SEELE have you uprooted?"

"I've found seven members. The remaining 5 are proving difficult to locate, even though one, Keele, is a rather popular individual."

"So you know their names, but not their locations?"

"No, wherever they're hidden must have been built using false paper trails as much as possible. There have been an unusual amount of fires in multiple cities around the world in which many building permits, blueprints, and even payment receipts have disappeared."

"And I'd assume the builders were silenced, or just disappeared?"

"Since I've yet to find out who the builders were, I can't be certain, but there are quite a few dead architects and construction foremen out there. Not all the world perished in this planet's Second Impact."

"Nice. How's Gendo doing?"

"Staring blankly at the wall ahead of him. May I play with him?"

I blinked, "What!"

"I'd like to toy with his mind, some. Torture him somewhat. Maybe use the interrogation droids."

I shuddered, imagining SHODAN given free reign to torture Gendo, "I think you ought to hold off on the interrogation and stuff for now. Not much we really need to know."

"Can I still play with his head?"

"... How?"

"I'd synthesize Dr. Ikari's voice using Kei, Mei, Nei, and Rei as templates, and my own experience with humans to develop something he would find most disturbing."

"That.. is disturbing in and of itself, SHODAN. Don't mess with him, just keep an eye on him."

The AI made garbled noises for a moment, before responding: "Very well." She seemed upset.

"Don't whine, you're not that bored. Go play in the infrastructure of Tokyo's Government and try to alter any information they have on NERV to make us look like good guys."

"Understood. Anything else?"

"How's the new ship coming?"

"With the number of Drones working on it, the superstructure, electrical systems, primary thrusters, power system and life support should be done by the end of next week."

"So soon? Damn. Guess all that time spent making multiple units build something in Starcraft paid off. What's left?"

"Auxiliary systems and Weapons, Secondary thrusters and backup power, Supply loading, and Fleet-Integration Systems."

"Fleet-Integration Systems?"

"A modification I seem to have come programmed with. It allows you to take control of any ship in your fleet from the Thunder, in case the crew is incapacitated, or killed."

"Or a suicide attack that'll only cost me a ship."

"Precisely."

"Keen. I never understood why nobody ever built the equivalent of a brick to put on the gas pedal."

"Ships cost money."

"Lives outweigh costs every time."

The AI chuckled, "If we ever return to your world, Kyle, I'd love to hear you tell that to your congress."

I rolled my eyes, and turned towards the door.

"Anything else?"

"How do you thing the next Angel should be dealt with?"

"Leliel?"

"Yeah, I guess so. The Twelfth."

"Kill it," Commander Fuyutsuki said, walking up behind me. I jumped, then turned to look at him.

"How do you want to do that, though? Without risking Unit 01 the way it.. err.. 'originally' happened?"

"Dr. Akagi's plan-"

"Drop 992 N2 mines into it?"

"You have a better suggestion?" Fuyutsuki asked, frowning.

"Sure, Proton Torpedoes."

"Actually, " SHODAN interrupted, "I'd suggest Dr. Akagi's plan, slightly modified."

"Oh?" the Commander and I said at the same time.

"If we modify the information used to suggest we need more than our stockpile of 992 N2 mines, we can take some of them out of SEELE's hands."

"Not bad," Fuyutsuki said, nodding. I shrugged, then turned to him, "Wanna try it?"

"We shall. Talk to Dr. Akagi and get the Computers working on this."

"Can do. Anything else coming up?" I asked, glancing at the Datapad.

"NERV Nevada will soon be testing their S2 Engine in Unit 04, which results in the-"

"Shit. I totally forgot about that." I said, remembering what I'd read; a chunk of Nevada gone.

"We should discuss this more thoroughly later, for now, however, there is a slight problem," Fuyutsuki said, interrupting me.

"Oh?" I asked, turning to the older man.

"While SEELE is, or, really, acts like it's in the dark about your presence, the Japanese government has learned of our alliance and has demanded to speak with you."

"And?"

"You'll be going to the Imperial Palace this evening to meet the Prime Minister of Japan, as well as the heads of the JSSDF."

"Nice, throw me to the wolves, eh?"

"Would you prefer I tell them we're too busy, as the previous Commander would have?"

"Ugh, act like Gendo? I'd rather go. Give the Pilots some sort of Uniforms, and they can come with me."

"Are you sure that's such a wise decision? While the Prime Minister has expressed interest in meeting the pilots, I worry that the heads of the military might be incapable of understanding our use of children as pilots. Despite our continually submitted explanations."

"Jarheads, eh? Maybe I'll shoot one of them. They seem to understand that."

"I don't that that would be very helpful in securing their trust," he replied, dryly.

I sighed. "Too true. Oh well. If they don't like it, I'll explain some of the capabilities of the Thunder, and hope they don't drool too much on the paperwork you'll undoubtedly send ahead."

The Commander smirked, and walked away, and I sighed, and looked at the Datapad in my hand.

"SHODAN, send down my Uniform, and Makoto, if she's not down here already. So much for dinner on the town."

"Understood."

I could have strangled Fuyutsuki. In fact, on a couple occasions, I found myself wringing the silk napkin in my lap to the extreme, small popping noises letting me know the stressed fabric was about to be torn in two.

Dinner was pure hell. After a quick meeting, and being visually dismissed, the assembled JSSDF and Prime Minister had crowded around the Eva pilots, while I was stuck talking to scientists and military strategists interested in taking my stuff.

"Commander, clearly you can see that Japan has been taken advantage of by the world. We're currently ground zero for this war, and we're taxed and billed more than Germany and the US combined, all because NERV is located there. Surely, then, you can see how we, of all people, deserve some for of technological advantage to help keep our coffers in the black."

I stared at the obvious politician flatly. Finally, after he started to deflate under my glare, I shrugged, "NERV is NERV. My ship is, for the most part, personal property. As an individual, how would I profit from giving something unique of mine away?"

"But.. you have integrated it with NERV, made use of our cities and planet for supplies and recreation-"

"Nobody stopped me. Or are you implying I was trespassing? Should I have taken what I wanted by force?"

Everyone within earshot stopped talking and stared at me, and I smirked again, "NERV has received boosts to its defensive and offensive capabilities due to our mutual agreement. Because of that, Japan is now far safer than any other location on Earth. So I'm failing to see how you haven't benefited."

That shut him up for a moment, and he turned to confer with one of the scientists nearby. In the meantime, one of the military personnel stepped forward.

"Commander, while we still don't fully understand the cause for your assistance, the JDF is grateful… however, in the future, as a simple request, we would like to be informed of your operations in and around Japan. If for no other reason than to avoid an accident, or, from another perspective, to ensure a combined effort is more effectively executed."

I nodded, then glanced at the pilots, who were apparently feeling overwhelmed. Even Asuka looked somewhat glazed from all the camera flashes she'd had to endure… or, looking closer and frowning, maybe from having a bit too much Champaign.

"Well!" I said, loudly, garnering much of the attention of the room, "I'm afraid NERV and the rest of my Staff need to withdraw for the evening." Turning to bow at the Prime Minister, I added, "It was a pleasure meeting you, sir. Rei, Asuka, Shinji? Lets head on back, shall we?"

Asuka initially complained, but eventually we left, the Thunder teleporting us back to NERV without any time-consuming travel.

"Commander?"

I turned to look at Rei, who was looking at me almost expectantly. "Yes?"

"I think I would like to try piloting one of your TIE-Fighters. From what I've read, it looks like a challenge."

I quirked a brow. For the most part, the three pilots had spent most of their time wandering around aimlessly. Rei and Asuka would occasionally spend a little time with Shinji, but more or less, the three were quiet and introverted.

"Me too! If the doll wants to try, I'll show her how a real pilot flies!" Asuka said, a moment later.

"How competitive," I mumbled, making a mental note to disable the weapons aboard the trainers.

"That's fine. Have SHODAN schedule an orientation with you, and you can get some time in the simulators before we give you clearance to explore some of our local space."

"Really?" Asuka asked, her eyes sparkling."

"Sure. I mean, that's why I offered it." I replied.

"Do you think we could fight?" Asuka asked, looking entirely too eager.

"I… suppose. In the simulators, at least. War games would help you find each other's strengths and weaknesses, and how best to compliment them."

Asuka frowned at that, "I don't want to fight alongside these two, I want to pound them into the ground!"

"In space?"

"You know what I mean!"

"Ground in space?" I asked, with a smirk. Misato, who'd been listening in, smirked.

"I'll grind them into space dust!" Asuka said after a momentary pause, punctuating her exclamation with victorious fist-thrust to the sky.

"Right. So I guess we'll do some team building skills and last-man standing," Misato said, looking at the three pilots speculatively.

"Aww, don't turn this into work!" Asuka said, scowling at the Captain.

"Don't worry Asuka, it'll still be fun. I'll have SHODAN program up some exercises that'll have you dancing with glee," I said, wondering how the Pilots would feel assaulting the Death Star. Of course, I'd have to smudge it a little, since TIEs were defending, not attacking…

She nodded and slipped inside.

"Anything else?" I asked, turning back to Rei.

"I… I would like to know what you have planned for… Kei Mei and Nei."

"The Trio?" I asked, referring to them by their unofficial group nickname.

"Yes."

"They're going to be assigned to the Star Destroyer I'm having built out in the Asteroid belt."

"When all the angels are defeated here, are you going to bring them back?" She asked. I frowned, wondering where she was going with this. I knew they'd been introduced, but she had not really hung around with them often, at least according to Section Two, so her concern was somewhat odd.

"They'll be given a choice to either come with me, or remain here, barring any unforeseen reasons denying them a choice."

"Will all NERV personnel be given that choice?"

"To a degree," I replied. Gendo would almost certainly be staying here.

"And Commander Ikari?" she asked, apparently mirroring my thoughts.

"I'd prefer to leave him here, unless for some reason he was forced upon my by the justice system here."

"Then, I too would like to go with you when you leave." She said, before disappearing inside.

"She does that a lot, doesn't she?" I asked Shinji who watched her go.

"…" He looked like he was about to reply, then shrugged.

"You going to sign up for TIE piloting as well?" I asked.

"I.. don't know. I don't think I'd do that well.." he replied, looking at the ground.

"Hmm… a TIE is a bit of showy thing. At least, Defenders are. The Standard TIE-Fighter Asuka and Rei will by piloting is somewhat less brag-worthy.

"You mean it's bad?" He asked, eyes wide with surprise.

"No, it's built to Imperial standards… but it was designed with the idea of swarming in mind. It's basically a flying gun. No shields, thin armor… in a combat situation, they win in numbers. 1-on-1, they tend to die pretty easily."

"But why would you let them-"

"There's no one up there to shoot at them. I'd rather not give Asuka the proverbial keys to a Starfighter capable of putting down anything on Earth."

"Oh," he replied, softly.

"How about this, then. Instead of learning to fly a fighter, I'll let you practice on a Bomber I got from the last universe I was in."

"That Wing Commander place?" he asked. I remember SHODAN Mentioning his interest in the reports and files we'd made public concerning our last visit.

"I managed to snag an Excalibur, and SHODAN should be able to rig a Sim to get you oriented with it. It won't be as nimble as a TIE-Fighter, but you'll be well-shielded, and have access to more firepower…"

"And cloaked," he said, smiling.

I grinned, "Indeed. Interested?"

"Yes sir!" he replied, enthusiastically, before slipping inside.

"You realize of course, Commander, that cross-training on a completely different vehicle might interfere with their ability to pilot EVA," Misato said, as he disappeared in the doorway.

"Of course, Captain. However, I told them to find something fun to do. You're welcome to join them, if you'd prefer. In fact, you could help even the odds, give the computers a 2-on-2 grouping to work with."

"Can I use one of those Defender's you were talking about?" She asked with a smirk. Unlike the Children, she obviously understood the need for a balance between Offense and Defense.

"Not if you intend to team up with Shinji. Asuka and Rei would stand little chance against you two."

"If I teamed up with Asuka?"

"Or Rei?" I added, frowning. I'd noticed the Captain avoided Rei or her clones whenever they were near. When she didn't respond immediately, I continued, "Captain, despite Rei's origins, she's helped destroy Angels in the past, and was, if you'll recall, the one to sacrifice herself in hope of buying NERV more time in the original… heh, scenario."

"Don't call it that," she mumbled, not meeting my eyes.

"Semantics. Rei's human… a girl with Gendo as her only real role model, now trying to find out what it means to live normally. Don't hold a little genetic heritage against her."

"It's not… I'm not…" She trailed off, either unable to say what she was thinking, or not knowing how to express her thoughts.

"I don't really care too much about the 'why's,' Captain. Just get over it. You can fly a Defender at Rei's side… And Rei will be flying a TIE-Bomber. Asuka will be given an Interceptor, as opposed to the regular Fighter, and I'll have SHODAN draw up missions in which your teams have specific targets to bomb or defend."

"I-"

"This is recreational for them, Captain, but I'm more than willing to make it an order for you."

"Understood, Commander."

"Relax, Captain. I'm sure you'll find it fun, even if your role will be defending Rei's slower, bigger-target of a ship."

Misato groaned and walked inside. I smirked at the closing door, before calling the Thunder to beam me to my room.

It was a few days later that I walked up to Dr. Akagi on the catwalk that ran alongside the EVA's heads. Glancing over at Unit-01, I smirked, then turned back to the doctor.

"So, Doctor, what, exactly is it about the EVAs that costs so much?" I queried, looking down at a datapad in my hand detailing the reports (and complaints) of NERV's spending.

"Every part has its unique expenses… The Armor itself is an ablative fractal-based crystalline lattice of U-238 and Tungsten. It's grown in special shock-absorbent vats, so that there are as few imperfections as possible."

"Why that combination?" I asked, looking at the armor speculatively.

"Tungsten is fairly heat-resistant, so most energy weapons that rely upon thermal damage is resisted. Uranium is, as you know, one of the densest hard metals known, so it's highly effective protecting against physical impacts and kinetic projectiles."

I blinked. That sounded almost impressive. Then I pulled a small scout blaster out of my pocket and shot Unit-02 in the arm, aiming for a thick portion of its armor.

"What are you doing!" Dr. Akagi screamed, while technicians all ran around like ants coming out of a kicked anthill.

When it was unlikely I'd be bumped over the edge of the catwalk by a panicked technician, I moved forward to inspect the damage. Dr. Akagi followed, glaring at me, and anyone who looked like they might get in her way.

The damage was, as I expected, somewhat impressive. Though the blaster hadn't gone through the armor totally, the crater-like blast point was about as big as a basketball.

"You said it was ablative… so instead of energy penetrating, the damage is spread out as much as possible?"

"Yes, as you can see, instead of penetrating, your weapon instead took a portion of the surface armor off. The center of the sphere of ablated material is exactly where the surface of the armor had been… though the amount of armor lost is somewhat unnerving. How powerful is that weapon?"

"Fairly weak, compared to a Carbide or Rifle… and the ship-based weapons are even more powerful," I replied.

"Hmm… what do they use for power?" she asked, staring at the blaster I held.

"Power cells," I said, popping it out, "Larger weapons, like those on fighters and ships, however, rely upon the power plants of the ships; Microfusion reactors for the fighters and Hypermatter reactors for the Capital Ships."

"How big are the Microfusion reactors?" she asked, sounding almost eager. I smirked, realizing what she was thinking.

"Small enough to replace the batteries in the EVAs with room to spare, I'd think," I replied.

"However, before we consider a modification like that, I was wondering if you'd be interested in trying some Durasteel armor for the EVAs, as opposed to what you have now. It's cheaper to manufacture for me, since we can have the WD's spit it out after eating a bunch of big rocks, and it should be at least as protective as what you have now, for much cheaper."

"What's this Durasteel normally used for?"

"Starship hulls. Under the Thunder's Stealth-coating is a layer of Durasteel. And the new Star Destroyer being built out past Mars is also being fitted with Durasteel Armor."

Ritsuko Akagi looked somewhat startled. Glancing at the EVA's now-dented armor, I frowned, "Could that be used for similar purposes? It's not bad stuff, considering…"

"No. In space, cosmic radiation and the extremes of heat and cold quickly cause micro-fractures and a breakdown of the fractalline qualities in the crystal lattice."

"I guess the Van Allen Radiation Belts are doing their job here, then." I replied with a grin.

Dr. Akagi frowned, "Somewhat. You know that solar radiation travels through the earth, some as easily as it does space, right?" I nodded, and she continued, "The armor here is still susceptible to the effects of it, and slowly breaks down. Every three months, the armor has to be evaluated and either scrapped or re-used."

"So... how long does it take to make the armor?"

"About five months," she replied, scowling at the dent in Unit 02's armor.

"So then, you're armor is being cycled out continually, and I doubt it gets much use, after being applied… Well! That explains the armor costs, at least."

"Yes. Now, about those reactors?"

I sighed, "Tell you what," I said, pulling out my commlink, "SHODAN, two to the labs."

We reappeared in the Science Labs of the Thunder, the wall of Jusenkyo Water back up on display, while various pieces of electronics lay scattered about. One table housed what I assumed was part of a Tractor Beam Emplacement, and another held a rack of weapons, their black finish marred by yellow stripes.

"Been busy, Cantrall?" I asked, causing the Officer in charge to turn around in surprise.

"My Lord!"

"Yes yes, fascinating," I said, pushing Dr. Akagi forward, "Meet Doctor Akagi Ritsuko, Director of Project E, which I'm sure SHODAN has delivered paperwork to you about."

"Yes, the Evangelions. A remarkab-" he started.

I cut him of before he could continue, "She's here because I want you two to work on integrating Imperial technology into the Evas. Armor, Power supplies, maybe weaponry…"

"Yes, my Lord," he replied. I nodded and walked out the door. Rude of me, I know, to have been so, well… short. But after being cursed in there, I wasn't exactly in the mood to stand around in there any longer than needed.

Teleporting back down, I made my way to the small suite set aside for me by NERV (I hadn't commandeered it, no) for a much needed nap.

Of course, sleeping was hard to do when the Angel Alarms started blaring; Leliel of course.

Making my way to the bridge, I wondered briefly how the angel intended to contact Adam. Then I paused. If it only sucked in things from above, how did it intend to get to the Geofront, below Tokyo-3? On the monitors, I noticed it was still playing opossum, its spherical shadow hovering over its thin 'body.'

"So, the modified plan?" I asked, from behind Fuyutsuki.

"We'll have to wait a bit, before we do. Remember, in your papers, young Ikari was taken before the plan was proposed."

"You're not suggesting we sacrifice one of the Children?" I asked, scowling.

"Of course not. Do you think your ship can force it to reveal its true form?" He asked.

I nodded, and radioed for the ship to blow the Angel's spherical projected shadow away. A moment later, a beam of green light streaked down from the sky, neatly impacting with the top of the sphere, which disappeared.

"Pop goes the weasel," I mumbled, as the shadow below went from mere shade to a pool of pitch-black. Below us, a door opened, and Dr. Akagi ran in, looking somewhat annoyed at the angel onscreen.

"It's exposed its true form?" she asked, though the way she didn't wait for an answer, I assumed it was rhetorical.

"Are we looking into the pocket-universe when we look into it? Is that why it's so black? Or is there some sort of event horizon blocking all light from inside?" I asked, leaning forward to look down at the thoughtful-looking Doctor.

"I'd assume, from what you brought, and what we know of the Sea of Dirac, that we're viewing the extremes of the pocket-universe. That, or any light coming from within has yet to make its way to the opening from whatever source is making it since the initial creation."

"So, if we were to launch Nukes into it, there's a good chance radiation from the explosion could leak back out to here?"

"Possibly," She said, frowning.

"And N2s?" Fuyutsuki asked, a moment later.

"If the Unit 01 was retrieved from within, then It's likely some of the destructive power from the N2s could leak out. While less dangerous than the radiation of a Nuclear explosion, it would probably present a hazard to nearby buildings."

I sat back, frowning. If it were a small fireball we had to worry about, I'd probably tell Fuyutsuki to go ahead, but he looked about as upset as I knew I did. The thought of a thousand or so explosions going off near the entrance would make a heck of a blast, and the fireball could quickly ignite nearby buildings, plants, or anything else… and the expanding gas would probably be hurricane-like.

"It seems we didn't consider everything when coming up with an alternative plan," Fuyutsuki mumbled.

Dr. Akagi scowled at the screen, the edge of her clipboard slamming repeatedly into the palm of her hand as she considered a way to combat the Angel.

"Too bad we can't just fight it with math problems," Misato said. Section two had mentioned her attempts last night to help Shinji with his homework. After several failed attempts, Asuka had stepped in, much to both their dismay.

Dr. Akagi's clipboard froze suddenly. "Not math problems.. but maybe math!"

"Ehh?" Misato asked, eloquently.

"That angel is a theoretical impossibility: infinite space within very little space. It's so flat, it has virtually no volume, despite its circumferential surface area."

"Not to mention it's one-sided," I added, pointing to the screen. The buildings it had passed through had definitely shrunk, but the ground it had seemingly rested upon was unscathed.

"Right. So if it's employing its AT-Field to hold open a theoretical impossibility-"

"Not so impossible if we're all looking at it" Makoto (Kino) said, earning a glare from the doctor, but a smirk from me.

"Impossible to duplicate-" she tried again.

"Unit 04?" Nabiki asked, having walked in a few minutes after Makoto.

"Fine! This… _anomaly,_ is acting non-Euclidian, then maybe another theoretically impossible field will cancel it out.

"So.. you want to make another Dirac Sea on top of this one?" I asked, wondering again why I was bothering to try and save these people. Fortunately, Dr. Akagi redeemed herself quickly.

"No-no, that would be disastrous. But maybe a Mobius Loop-"

"Or a Klein bottle?" Ibuki said, quietly. Well, it would have been quiet if she hadn't been leaning over her microphone to the point that we could all hear her breathing. When she realized we'd all heard her, she blushed and shrunk in her chair, but Dr. Akagi just nodded.

"That's perfect. A fourth-dimensional single-surface object," Dr. Akagi said, sounding triumphant.

"So… we're going to toss a water bottle in it?" I asked.

Dr. Akagi frowned at me. Before she could explain however, one of the screens on the side wall flickered to life, and on it, I saw an image of a Mobius Loop, which I vaguely remembered reading about somewhere.

"A Klein Bottle," SHODAN's voice suddenly explained, "Is the result of joining two Mobius Loops together. It's a bottle with no true lip; it's inner surface a continuation of its exterior."

On screen, I saw a simple looking pot with a thin neck, suddenly warp, so that the neck stretched out, twisted into the bottle's side, and connected to the base, which opened up. Now the opening was at the base, but I could see that anything put into the bottom opening would wind up through the neck, and into the interior. It was actually somewhat freaky.

"Nice," I said, realizing that the neck-through-the-side part is where Dr. Akagi's fourth-dimension came in, "So are we supposed to have someone buy a model somewhere downtown, and toss that in?"

"No… it will need to be as close to the real thing as possible. We'll need to manipulate an AT-Field into that shape."

"You mean you still want to send one of the Children out there?" Misato asked, frowning at her friend.

Dr. Akagi just smirked, and held up a cheap plastic cup she'd just filled with cool tap water, "not exactly."

------

Author's notes: Well.. here it is. NASIF 4, Chapter seven. I guess I hadn't really bothered looking around much, because, darn it, there was a whole half-chapter worth of fic hidden away for this, as well. And there's some MPA stashed away as well, though I'm still not sure if I like where it went in the bit of Chapter Three I have saved.

So I suppose I should start by thanking Nate and Tannim, both of which have pre-read, not only this, but the latest chapters of AYASIF and RA, as well… Oh, and speaking of RA, I feel kinda sad that it got so little viewage compared to this and AYASIF… Did the interest die? Or are the ones reading it not prone to reviewing? Oh well…

I've grown a bit since I last worked on this fic, so if it feels somewhat different from now on, just think, this is what happens after almost two years of nothing… Here's to hoping I don't fall that far behind ever again.


	8. Chapter 8

"Remind me again why I'm doing this from an Eva?" I asked, as I stared across the brief bit of road that disappeared into the inky-black expanse of Leliel.

"Because if you have to cut and run, your stride in an Eva will allow you to cover more ground," Dr. Akagi responded, sounding somewhat distracted.

"Right, because clearly my wings in this form are purely ornamental," I deadpanned, as the shadow slowly drifted nearer. I hadn't yet deployed an AT-Field, and presumably, because of that I'd yet to be attacked from beneath.

"From beneath you it devours," I mumbled, as I thought about the Angel's Modius Operandi.

"Sounds biblical," Nabiki commented.

"Try Buffy," I replied, concentrating as I began to envision a Klein bottle made from my AT-Field.

"I still don't understand why she had to use my Unit 02" a new voice came on the line.

I groaned, "Asuka, if Unit-02 is anyone's, it would be Commander Fuyutsuki's, since it's NERV Property. And as for why I'm in it... well... that's a good question. Doctor?"

"Your reports indicate Unit 02 is the most easily... err... employed... by an Angel. With the complexity of this operation, we decided to avoid as many unknown variables as possible."

"Unit 02 is NOT easily employed by-"

"Don't argue, or I'll revoke your flight privileges," Nabiki cut in, to which she was greeted with silence. Asuka had taken to the TIE-Interceptor fairly well after getting used to the controls. Since Nabiki was an Admiral aboard the Thunder, however, the Second Children knew her ability to fly was in Nabiki's devious hands.

"Alright, Commencing... this," I muttered, not sure whether or not to consider it an attack, an attempt, an attempted attack, or something else entirely.

With a little more concentration, and something I wasn't quite sure how to describe, an AT-Field appeared which earned the expected response of Leliel, who rushed in my direction in an attempt to eat me. Fortunately, I had taken refuge on a short building, so I had a few seconds before my footing sunk into nothingness.

The orange-ish transparent field began with its typical two-dimensional concentric hexagonal appearance, but suddenly, it began to warp, curving around until it made a cylinder, as I did my best to shape it the way SHODAN's example had shown.

While it was transitory, it felt like trying to shovel water with a fork, wanting to revert back to its initial configuration. However, when it became a cylinder, it felt like it snapped into place, and even if I relaxed my hold, it retained that shape. Warping that around to make the completed bottle, however, felt like trying to cut the ocean up with a piece of floss, and the pattern slipped a couple times before I finally got it.

"Got it!" I shouted, finally looking away.

"GET OUT OF THERE!" I heard shouted at me in response. Looking around, I realized the building I'd been standing on was gone, and my feet were beginning to disappear into the inky blackness of the Angel.

"Oh, shit," I mumbled, before trying to jump, toss the AT-Field, and look around for a place to land all at the same time. The Angel's hold, however, was better than it looked, and I ended up merely falling forward, shoving the Klein bottle into the Dirac Sea.

The results were fairly spectacular I assume, though with the whole thing blowing up in my face, I wasn't conscious long enough to see just what happened. The pain from being at ground zero managed to put me out far too quickly to give me a chance to view my handy work.

I woke up floating in a tube of fluid that I realized quickly wasn't LCL. For one, I was breathing through a device similar to a SCUBA mouthpiece, and the fluid was a mostly-clear blue, and felt a bit thicker. It also tasted fairly horrible, and I was very happy to feel myself pulled out moments after my eyes opened.

"Bacta?" I asked when I felt capable of talking again.

"You've been in there a couple days, now. Take it easy while we get some food for ya," I heard Nabiki say. Feeling someone take my hand, I managed to peel one eyelid back to look at Makoto, whose teary-gaze met mine instantly.

"Don't cry, you should see the other guy," I mumbled, wincing as I began to notice the aftertaste festering in my mouth.

Makoto made a relieved gasping noise as she lunged at me, and a moment later, I was embraced in a tight hug, which I eagerly returned.

The debriefing went a little better, though Ritsuko seemed to think I almost destroyed Unit 02 on purpose. Asuka had verbally denied me the use of the big red unit ever again, even in the face of an Apocalypse, and Dr. Akagi had seemed willing to concede the point to the redhead.

"Well, there are always units 00 and 01," I said with a smirk. Dr. Akagi looked horrified at the thought, and then shook her head.

"No, we've devised a somewhat less-than-legitimate plan to acquire Unit 04 from Nevada."

"Oh? I thought they said no... You don't intend to simply try and steal it, do you?"

"Well... yes and no. Since the US is unwilling to give up the unit without testing their S2 Engine, and we know what will happen, we've decided to-"

"Who's 'we'?"

"Commander Cantrell and I," she replied. I shuddered at the thought of the two of them working together, before motioning for her to continue.

"When the test to activate the S2 Engine begins, we've learned that the engine is connected to Unit 04, but not installed, as we had assumed. With the monitoring equipment aboard your ship as precise as it is, we've decided to try to teleport the Unit away at the last second, and hope it looks like it disappeared with the facility."

"You're going to let those people die?" Makoto asked, from beside me.

"We've tried warning them. Tried ordering them... they haven't listened, and don't believe us... we can't reveal what all we know without alerting SEELE, which seems to have turned a lot of it's attention to the US' Branches, now that they've been cut off from NERV Tokyo."

"But... so many people..." she muttered, still obviously unhappy.

I turned to her and sighed, "I know it sucks, but sometimes, you just have to let people learn for themselves; even if the learning is permanent..."

Before she could respond to that, Dr. Akagi added "we have recalled all our people from the area, and done our best to get people transferred away from the site, but in the end, they're still looking at the loss of around... what was it?"

"Close to 400 people," Fuyutsuki said.

"Can't you teleport them out?"

"Not without sacrificing Unit 04... and given what would happen if we fail, we're looking at either 400, or over a billion."

"Don't make this a numbers game!" Makoto shouted at the Doctor, who had the decency to look a little ashamed of what she'd said.

I wrapped my arms around my wife and sighed, "It's not fair... it's not right, but in the end, it's the lesser of two evils."

"I know... I just..." she hissed in annoyance, and looked around the room, then back at me, "I'm really beginning to hate this world. I'm headed back to the ship," she said, before walking out.

"Commander, I-" Dr. Akagi started; I just held my hand up to silence her.

"Don't. She's had a rough day... we all have... or week, really, since I've been out of it for a few days. What do you intend to do with Unit 04, after it's been retrieved?"

"We'd have to store it on the Thunder, so the US doesn't realize we've stolen it. Cantrell's working on getting materials for a full-upgrade to Imperial-level equipment... once we've ironed out the bugs, we'll begin applying the changes to the other units we have here."

I frowned. "And the soul?"

"The what?"

"The Soul. Inside the unit. Who is- Who was it?"

Ritsuko frowned at that, before starting, slowly, "There's not yet been one assigned. The initial plan... well; let's just say you wouldn't have approved the former Commander's methods."

I turned to look at Nabiki, whose face held emotions similar to those Makoto had as she stormed out. "Don't look at me," I said when she caught my gaze, "I told you I hated Mecha series... your papers got me down here."

"So this is all _my_ fault?"

"No. This is... err... Anno's fault. Or His mess. Gainax's too. We're just stuck picking up the pieces. Let's go prep for the Unit 04 Extraction, and see if we can't get the transporters from the nearly-finished ship out in the asteroid belt to assist in snatching away the scientists about to get themselves sucked into the n-th dimension. Then I'm going out to blow something up."

Of course, it wasn't that easy. We'd managed to teleport Unit 04 and the scientists away from Nevada moments before the facility disappeared, though we'd lost a portion of Unit 04's legs and a couple scientists to the rapidly-growing event horizon of the Dirac Sea before everything had properly been grasped and moved by the teleporters.

Of course, when the scientists who'd moment's ago been in a panic as they realized they were about to die suddenly found themselves standing around in a large hangar-like room, complete with force-field-protected opening letting them gaze out into the starry expanse of space, they were a little noticeable relieved.

Then, they got belligerent.

"We appreciate the fact that you saved us, but you can't seriously expect to keep Unit 04!"

"Hey!" I replied, the military commander apparently not all that impressed by my appearance, "I could care less about what you expect. I warned you repeatedly that you should have postponed the test. You have a huge crater where your research facility was supposed to be now, and everyone thinks you are dead! Do you have any idea how much paperwork it's going to take to prove who you are if we let you go back?"

"So we're hostages now, is that it?" someone yelled.

"No. You're lucky to be alive, right now. The US Government is preparing to give a speech about losing all of you, and we're working right now to postpone that, so they don't look stupid when we drop you all back off."

"So why can't you give us back Unit 04?"

"Simple, you played too rough with it, and like a bad child, you endangered it and yourself, so we're taking it away from you. Since you can't grasp the fact that most of you were mere nanoseconds from death when we swooped in to rescue you, I'll make this simple. You're going back to Nevada, near the crater you used to work at, so your government can rescue you. Unit 04 is ours now. We've got some modifications we'd like to try, but haven't had a test bed yet in which to install them."

There was a rumble of voices as they people present mulled over that. Finally, a voice spoke up, "Could... we maybe stay? I'm not really in the mood to work with people who held back information stating this test might be disastrous," this was punctuated by a glare at the military officer, who didn't even bother to hide his contempt.

I'd not really considered that, "Um, I don't see much of a reason to say no..." I started, before a voice behind me spoke up.

"What were you working on, there?" I turned to see Dr. Akagi looking the group over prospectively.

"I was in charge of the-" he suddenly started speaking another language that Ritsuko appeared to follow.

After a brief conversation, she turned to me and spoke softly "I could use him, he's one of the few people the American's had capable of understanding the Eva's as well as my staff."

"So... fine. Whatever. You take over here, send the asshole in the starched-linens back with anyone else who wants to return, and those who want to stay, find a way to make them productive, either up here, down at Tokyo-3, or wherever else they can help."

"Me? But, shouldn't you-"

I cut her off, "You've had minions before, now you just have a whole lot more. Or do you want me to send them all back?"

"No, I'll take them. I just..."

"Just?" I asked, quirking a brow.

"I've got it. Just a little surprised, that's all."

"Don't be. I'm going to the bridge. I'll let the officers here know you're in charge on my way out."

A couple hours later, I was still somewhat annoyed and staring out the massive windows at the Earth slowly rotating below. Actually, in our current geostationary orbit, the Earth didn't appear to rotate so much as the stars seemed to rotate around Earth and the ship at an almost lethargic, monotonous pace.

"SHODAN, show me the Earth with post- and pre-Second-Impact coastlines indicated," I said, earning me a curious glance from Makoto and Nabiki, who'd joined me while I'd brooded.

The Hologram appeared after a moment, and I frowned, "can you highlight all the now-submerged major metropolitan areas?"

"Potential areas from Earths visited in the past, or reconstructed from maps and charts accessible from the current world's internet?" The AI asked immediately.

"From this world. Major areas, though. Any city with a population over half-a-million should be good. And a separate map of what remains of New York, if you can."

"What are you planning?" Nabiki asked, as the second map popped up beside a globe now glowing with coastal cities.

"I'm being petty," I mumbled, before turning to look at one of the cameras, "Okay, SHODAN, I want you to tour the Earth. Scan all the submerged ruins for Gold, Platinum, Diamonds, Rubies, Emeralds and Sapphires. If it's near human life signs, pass on it, but if it's buried or submerged and obviously unclaimed, Beam it up to one of the empty storage bays."

"An interesting way of securing funds," Nabiki said with a smirk. I shrugged, as SHODAN began firing thrusters and the view outside shifted as the Thunder re-oriented its orbit.

"Not much better than grave-robbing," Makoto mumbled, and I sighed.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Nabiki beat me to it, "this isn't about having money for money's sake, Kyle's thinking ahead, and planning for eventualities. I was going to suggest something similar myself, actually."

"Oh?" I asked, turning to look at her.

"Well, more or less. I was thinking more along the lines of taking from SEELE's coffers, but this works, too."

I had, actually, been feeling somewhat petty, and figured a random collection of riches might cheer me up for a moment, but Nabiki's argument made sense.

"So, why'd you bring up New York?" Makoto asked, after a moment of staring at the maps.

"Well, we all know a majority of the worlds finest things are kept there, along with Paris and London, which I'd hit later… Oh, and DC."

"Washington DC?" Nabiki asked, askance.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I read that the Archives collapsed and despite multiple attempts, very little was retrieved from the building in the previous years. I want the Declaration."

"The... Wait, you want _The_ Declaration?" Nabiki asked, obviously shocked.

"I said that, didn't I?"

"But, wouldn't the people of this Earth maybe... object to that?" Makoto asked.

"Look, the US Government stopped trying and set up a cute little floating memorial much like the Arizona's at Pearl Harbor. They're not even looking anymore, and instead are displaying a 'backup copy'" they had stashed away in some mountain vault somewhere. So I say we take it. I know there's got to be some sort of 'Trophy Room" aboard this ship, and I think something as politically moving as the declaration should go in there. Along with whatever other historical relics we can find."

"Which you intend to search for in New York, Paris, and London." SHODAN stated.

"Precisely," I said.

"I can think of some other cities you might want to look into," Nabiki said.

"Such as?"

"Sydney, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Hong Kong… want me to continue?"

I shook my head and pointed at the camera, "Tell SHODAN."

"Would you like to give this world-wide operation a name, Lord Kyle?" Captain Archer asked, having arrived earlier but keeping quiet as our conversation continued.

"Hmm... Nabiki, Any ideas?"

She smirked, "Operation Sticky Fingers?"

I chuckled, "sounds good to me. Mako-chan?" I asked.

"I'm just... I dunno. I'll get over it, I suppose. With everything that's gone on, I'm thinking too much about some things, and not enough about others."

I pulled her into a hug, before keeping an arm around her and moving towards the door, "Let's go get dinner, and we'll see if we can dredge up memories of better days. I know what you mean by the oppressive depression here."

Of course, the following week, as the Thunder circled the globe acquiring more and more lost relics of petty individual taste (and we all got a few good laughs over all the random shapes people would pay to have their gold shaped as) I found myself sitting at one of the many meeting tables within Nerv, as we discussed the upcoming battle with Bardiel.

"Well, we can't risk calling off the transfer. This is a clear-cut case of 'better the devil you know,'" Fuyutsuki was saying.

"Great. I'll be sure to tell Suzuhara that while we fit him for a prosthetic arm and leg," I sniped across the table.

"We don't know he'll be wounded like that this time! The Dummy Plug system has been totally scrapped, thanks to your... intervention," Ritsuko said from her seat.

"And why don't we just destroy Unit 03 once it's in our care and infected," Misato asked, having walked in a few minutes ago, despite being asked to arrive early to avoid getting lost.

"The only time an Angel can fully integrate with an Eva and contaminate it is when the Eva is fully powered and piloted. If we try to destroy it, the Angel could move to another host, and it'd be the same as if we had called off the transfer."

"We could increase sensor coverage in the area. With what we know, we could shift our coverage to overlap in areas we know this and the upcoming Angels would be appearing, instead of trying for even coverage over the entire Tokyo-3 area," Maya offered.

"If the Angel moves outside of our coverage zone and we lose it, it could take too much time to reacquire," Aoba said, shaking his head.

"Not to mention we'll have anywhere from a couple hours to a day before Zeruel appears..." I pointed out. "We've not even begun to discuss how we're going to handle that one."

"You can't just blast it out of the sky like you've done before?" Misato asked me.

"After everything I read, we'll need something with a bit of kick... I don't know if anything I have available is going to be able to take him out with out devastating Tokyo-3, and much of Japan along with it."

"We can't just ask Shinji to go berserker on it. It's morally wrong!" Misato shouted.

"I never said we were going to," I replied.

"Well what are we going to do?"

I shook my head, "I don't know yet, that's why we're here, Katsuragi; to plan."

The major gritted her teeth, but nodded and sat back in her chair, looking thoughtful, as did everyone else.

Finally, "you could do it," everyone heard Maya say, softly, as she gazed over the table at me.

I shook my head, "I'd make a huge mess of the countryside. I'm talking blasts in the gigaton range; twenty Tsar Bomba's at once. I'd decimate an area about as big as Nevada."

"You can't control the explosive?" Ritsuko asked, frowning.

"No. Can you arbitrarily change the shape of an N2 Mine's explosion?"

"But you've used your cannons before!" Misato argued.

"Yeah, Light Turbolasers on the giant spider, and whatever SHODAN used in space, where the only thing damaged was a couple satellites."

"That's not what I meant, though," Maya spoke up, busily typing on the laptop she'd pulled out and begun using as she spoke earlier. "Here," she said, turning to one of the large screens on the wall, which split to show recorded footage of Unit 01 Going berserk on the Third Angel. The other part of the screen showed graphs, diagrams, and charts that fluctuated wildly.

"And I see Shinji, opening a can of whoop-ass..." I said.

Ritsuko, however, smiled, "you want to induce a berserker state in an Eva?"

"With the data we have from this fight, as well as the Sub-Commander's unique ability to pilot, I think we could pull it off."

"Are you forgetting the part where Shinji is absorbed and spends weeks inside his Eva before being reconstructed after the final failed attempt to restore him? I'm not to keen on experiencing that kind of trip, thanks."

"With your unique physiology, Kyle, you should be able to pull it off. Especially if the modifications Cantrall and I made to Unit 04 work."

"I 'should be able,' 'if the modifications work,'" I mumbled, shooting a glare her way.

"Do you know of a better way to take down the Juggernaut?" She retorted, icily.

"How about that Particle Accelerator-turned cannon you used against the giant sugar-cube?"

"The JSDF prototype was fairly ruined by the time we were finished with it. And the power Requirements... if it fails, we'll be without power to combat it any other way."

"I could have some fusion reactors brought down—" I started, but she shook her head, "Even with the power, we'd still have to manufacture a new device, and after all the testing and configuration, we'd have been done with the fight twice-over."

I sighed.

"We could... Cantrell and I spoke about possibly making a ship-mounted version of the cannon, but we hadn't found a time to get your permission to begin the formal planning."

"You mean, like a Yamato Cannon?" I said, thinking back to an Anime series I'd only read about.

"If you mean like the battleship, no. This would be a large weapon that runs along the spine of your ship... you'd have to point the ship at your target, and it would probably render most of your weapons useless as it charged and fired."

I winced; losing all the weapons would be tough… "If you can find a way to use some sort of capacitors or something to cut down time to a reasonable level, I'll consider it, but if I'm stuck drifting and helpless after a single shot, I'd rather not."

"Getting off subject," Fuyutsuki said, and I nodded.

"Okay, then, back to the most imminent problem: Bardiel."

"The summaries indicated that Unit 03's Entry Plug was trapped by a stick, adhesive extension of the Angel that trapped it in place like a web," Hyuuga said, finally. The rest of us looked at him expectantly, and he blushed before continuing, "Well, if all our current Eva's were to be present for the startup test, maybe we could subdue it, and forcibly remove the plug before destroying the Angel."

"Sounds simple enough; any suggestions on who we'll subject to the horror of piloting the Angeled-Eva?" Misato asked.

"I'll do that. No kid should have to sit trapped in that tube... and I at least have an AT-Field to protect me if anything goes wrong." I said.

"Actually, that's one of the main reason you _can't_ be the pilot," Dr. Akagi intoned.

"What, because I have an AT-Field?"

"Because you're an Angel when you pilot."

"Thanks," I said, smirking.

She scowled, before continuing, "You, as an Angel, take over the Eva in a way similar, but not the same as when the Children pilot. If Bardiel Infects the Unit, you'll either be unable to synch at all, because the Angel's already... 'connected,' you could say, or you'll kick it out, in which case, we're back to the problem of finding where and what it infects next. And if we go with this plan, we'll have 4 other units nearby to infect, and you might not be able to synch up in time to help."

"Okay... that would suck," I uttered, after taking a moment to digest all she'd said.

"So, then, what have we got to work with? Shinji synched with Unit 00 poorly, Rei can synch with Unit 01, Asuka won't let anyone else touch Unit 02, and we have you, Sub-Commander, in Unit 04," Misato summarized quickly.

"Young Ikari's entire class is capable of piloting, so it's not like we're limited in our choices," Fuyutsuki added, as everyone considered that.

"Well, I suppose we should ask the students, and then ask the parents if anyone wants to pilot the next Eva."

"Parent," Dr. Akagi mumbled.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"All the students in that class have a single parent. The other parent has died within the Tokyo-3 Area within the past fifteen years, and is somewhat trapped as a lost soul in a limbo below us, close to where we keep the Second Angel."

"That's a very disturbing thing to hear," I replied, after a momentary pause. Most of the staff looked a little pale at the announcement, and I'm fairly certain I was, too.

"It's part of the activation process. After the disaster with Sohryu's Unit 02, we decided that the testing process that took Dr. Ikari and Dr. Sohryu was unacceptable."

"Unacceptable? Asuka's mother tore her soul in half trying to be there for Asuka, and it's ruined both of them!" Misato shouted.

"I didn't say I liked it, Katsuragi! The decision wasn't mine, anyway. Commander Fuyutsuki?" Ritsuko said, turning to fix him with a glare to indicate she wanted him to explain further.

"Kyoko Sohryu's attempt was unannounced, and in the end, as the Major said, it was one of the reasons Asuka is as volatile and impulsive as she is. When Gehirn discovered the Geofront, It was full of a type of energy Yui Ikari had hypothesized was one of the primary building blocks of the human soul. After we lost her in Unit 01, further testing proved her theory right, and we discovered that they were potentially the souls of people who'd died in the area."

"So, you what? Looked up the records of all the deaths in the area? That had to be a big list," Misato shot, icily.

"No, the energy patterns slowly fade over time. Our estimates show around a twenty-year lifespan before the pattern breaks down. The classes at the high school are broken down by the amount of time passed since the death of the parent after the students are divided by grade."

"The whole grade is full of potential students, but we still have to use a complex series of tests to see if any of the energy patterns match up with the other parent's to produce an energy pattern similar to the Potential Pilot."

"You mean their Wave Pattern Analysis results?" I asked.

"Yes, the Magi can break down individual patterns and extrapolate a second parent's potential pattern if we have the other parent's for comparison."

"Like, the child is five, one parent is three, and so you know the other parent is a two?" I inquired, wondering if she was enjoying this.

"A simplified way of looking at it, but accurate enough for now."

"How do you get the Soul into the Eva?"

"I think we should look at the current issue and deal with procedure after the upcoming crisis is averted," Fuyutsuki intoned as the conversation went off topic again.

"Okay, Section Two Surveillance reports that only one student appears actively interested in piloting," Misato said, stealing Ibuki's computer for a moment before bringing up a student profile on the large screen.

"Kensuke, Aida." I read, frowning. "Isn't he a military nut?"

"From what I've seen of him, yes. But it shouldn't be too much of a problem. After all, if this works out, we'll be discharging him after losing his Eva during the activation test, right?"

"So, we're going to ask him to risk his life, achieve his childhood dreams, and then kick him out after we're done? Sounds like something the previous Commander would do," Aoba stated.

"What would Ikari do?" Fuyutsuki mused aloud.

"Want me to shoot you?" I asked darkly.

"What? No!"

"Then you probably don't want to do what Gendo would do. He's more than likely pissed at everyone in here," I said, shuddering at the image that had flashed through my mind as Fuyutsuki spoke: little WWGD bracelets with crudely drawn Angels on them being sold by the dozens.

"Like it or not, Aida wants this... and if we somehow manage to salvage Unit 03, this experience will have tempered his enthusiasm somewhat. Harsh as that might seem, if we weren't going to have to start a Pilot off with a mission like this, I'd stick with the original plan and use Suzuhara," Ritsuko finally said.

"Why?" Lieutenant Aoba asked.

"Because his attitude and intelligence levels fall within the range best suited for a pilot."

"And Zeruel?" Maya asked.

"Doesn't have test scores," Ritsuko said. There was a pause before everyone realized she'd cracked a joke, and after a moment of light chuckling, I turned to the Lieutenant with a sigh.

"I don't like your plan... but it's probably going to take all the time we have to set up, while every other plan would take longer... so see what you can come up with, and if we can't come up with anything else, then I guess Unit 03 gets an S2 Engine to go along with all the other goodies Cantrell and Akagi have added," I replied. She nodded, scooped up her laptop, and disappeared out the door, Dr. Akagi right behind her.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Misato asked me, as we made our way out.

"No. But, really, I'm at least old enough to drink... enlist... _shave_. They're kids... would you subject them to any of this, if you could do it yourself?"

"No. I suppose that's part of growing up," she intoned lifelessly. I laughed.

"What? What's so funny?"

"Do you really think I'm all that grown up? This isn't about maturity; it's about doing what's right, even if you don't want to. I'll do the bad thing if I can get away with it, and if it doesn't hurt anyone too badly, but in the end, I'm just going through life doing what I think is right. A rather wise old man said that."

"What? That he's going through life-"

"Nonono, 'you must do what you think is right,'" I said, channeling my inner Obi-Wan. Misato looked thoughtful for a moment, and then nodded, "I suppose I can see that. Still, even if you didn't mean to, you've been rather mature so far, so it's not like you can't claim it, even if you don't believe it yourself."

"Whatever, Major. I'm going to see if the Thunder managed to steal anything worthwhile while I was away. Call me if you need anything," I said before disappearing in a flash of light.

As the next couple weeks progressed, the atmosphere at Nerv turned darker as the expected confrontation date drew closer. As Unit 03 flew through the odd cloud the Thunder had watched form out of nowhere, the final papers were signed, and Kensuke Aida was made an official Eva Pilot of the soon-to-be-arriving Unit 03. His enthusiasm, however, was damped by the knowledge that his initial activation test was potentially dangerous, and it had taken a lot of explaining before he'd grudgingly decided to go along with it.

Operation Sticky Fingers had left one of the Thunder's Auxiliary Holds overflowing with jewelry, Treasure, and trinkets, and after a few hours of staring at it in awe, Nabiki began to sort it by hand, an activity she seemed to enjoy greatly.

Cantrall and Akagi had both finalized the plans for adding the Accelerated Particle Beam Cannon to the Thunder, and after overlooking them, I gave them the go ahead. From their initial proposal in which I'd be unable to fire at all during charging, firing, and cool-down, they'd devised a series of capacitors, feedback-loops, and power shunts that left the Thunder unable to fire her weapons during the actual time of firing, but at all other times, the weapons were free to unleash their fury. The downside however, was a much longer recharge time, meaning a slower firing rate, but I figured the proposed power output would mean one or two shots was all I'd need in a fight... any more, and I'd probably end up retreating.

Finally, the day of the activation test began, and I made my way down to the hangar bay housing a Modified Eva Cage, and my own, personal Unit 04, which I'd had coated in radar-absorbing olive-green paint. It was like the bastard offspring of a Tank and a Giant, and I chuckled as the elevator brought me up to the modified Entry Plug, which had been upgraded to include almost everything from the TIE-Defender's cockpit that had been cannibalized to create the Plug itself.

"So," I said, once the Plug had been inserted, and we'd begun the initial Synchronization process. Since Unit 03 was housed in one of the Thunder's hangars, instead of a launch elevator, one of the AT-AT Barges had been refit to transport 3 Evas at a time, and the platform each Unit rested on was moved to the center of the hanger, under the descending barge, which lowered around the unit, before closing up and taking off.

"What's up?" Makoto asked, watching from the Tyderium-class Shuttle that was hovering nearby as an escort for the much larger barge.

"What all do we have here, goody-wise?"

"Didn't you read the report?" Nabiki asked, appearing behind and to the left of Makoto on the comm. screen."

"Not really. Cantrall and Akagi seemed to trail off into techno-speak a lot, and I wasn't really willing to break out a dictionary. SHODAN, think you could connect me to Cantrall and Akagi on my trip down?"

A moment later, the two were connected, and I asked my question again.

"Aside from the Durasteel Armor, there's a complete TIE-Defender's defensive system in the Entry Plug," Cantrall said after a moment.

"We've also installed a pair of Micro-fusion reactors where the Unit's original Batteries went, so you've got a potentially endless supply of power. Endless, at least, for as long as you're likely to last in a full-scale skirmish," Dr. Akagi added.

"The Restraints most Evas come with have been removed, since piloting in your current form would destroy them every time you synch up. Instead, we've placed a missile launcher in the shoulder blades, similar to Unit 02s Close-in Weapon System," Cantrall said, after a moment of silence.

"Do I have eye-lasers?" I asked with a serious voice, though I was smiling.

"Not exactly; the lasers wouldn't fit on the Unit's head without disrupting the modified Radar and sensor suite we installed, so instead we placed them on the wrists above the back of the Unit's hands, with the firing triggers located on the modified butterfly handles."

"And the missile launcher?"

"On the center console, below the handles," Ritsuko supplied.

"Right," I said, finding them and grinning as I saw I was loaded with Concussion Torpedoes on the Left, and Proton on the Right.

"You've got a deflector shield installed, much like those on the X-Wing of the Rebel Alliance. With the panel to your left, you can shift from complete coverage to Double Front or Double Back; though against an Angel, you're best off using your AT-Field, since the Shield Generators can be damaged, while an AT-Field can be dropped and remade at the speed of thought."

"Keen. Anything else?"

"The final major modification is a repulsor/thruster system we had the WD out in the Asteroid Field make for us. You won't reach anywhere near even Mach 1, but you should be able to safely hover and move around at a hundred or so kilometers per hour... about sixty miles per hour."

"Great. So I'm now piloting a Mecha that can fly, shoot lasers beams from its hands, and is shielded. Think I could grow some wings, or shape shift into an innocent-looking boat?" I asked rhetorically. Makoto and Nabiki laughed, but Dr. Akagi, who'd finally moved into the view of the camera merely scowled at me before disconnecting.

"Someone needs to refresh the good Doctor on what it means to be facing danger in an untested war machine of hybridized parts," I stated solemnly.

"Stat!" Nabiki quipped.

"With a quickness," Makoto added, smirking at me through the camera. I reached out to run my hand down the screen once, before looking up as the Evan shuddered. Apparently we'd touched down. With a loud clank, the clamps securing Unit 03 in place released, and the AT-AT Barge began lifting off, as I felt the power flood into Unit 03, and slowly stood up.

"Holy crap," I said, as I watched the panels come alive around me, and in my head.

"What's wrong?" Dr. Akagi asked, as I closed my eyes and tried to make sense of everything bombarding my awareness.

"You tied all the sensors to the Entry Plug, and somehow they're being relayed from the Eva to me. I can sense the Barge ascending, the hovercraft to my left, and quite a few power sources nearby, that would probably be..." I opened my eyes and looked, trying to ignore the mounting headache, "Yeah. The other Evas."

"Cantrell, can I turn down the range on the sensors? I'm sensing things over the horizon, and it's starting to give me a headache. There are Trains running to the south, and there's a group of Fighters to the Northwest apparently in a holding pattern... and there are primitive Radar stations out the ass all over the place..."

"You have to recalibrate the range on the panel to your right. It's fairly self-explanatory, but we don't have remote access here, My Lord," he said, after looking at some documents. After a moment of searching, I dialed back the range to the immediate vicinity, 100 meters, and I felt the pressure in my head lessen greatly.

"Oh, thank god. That was going to drive me insane," I said, turning to look at the area around me.

With the sensors reset, I took in the Entry plug with a critical eye, looking for anything that I should complain about. Not that I was picky, but because I knew Akagi and Cantrell had been rushed, and they probably expected complaints. Aside from the sharp edges on some of the new hardware, the layout itself was fine, and with some better-molded casing, the whole thing would probably work fine.

"Sub-Commander?" Shinji asked, a small video box popping up near my head to display his face from within Unit 01.

"What's up?"

"My god in Heaven," Asuka said before Shinji could continue. I noticed with some confusion that her video window almost totally covered Shinji's, and as he cringed from her shout, it looked like he was cowering inside his little video window below the oppressive Second. "What did you do to your Eva?" She asked after a moment of staring at me intently.

"Nothing that won't be done to yours in time, Kid," I replied.

"Never! My Unit 02 was made with the best technology on the planet. There's nothing on it to be improved!" the redhead declared.

I smirked at her, "Aww, look Asuka, you've embarrassed Unit 02, its bright red, now."

"What!" She screeched, looking down at her arms as if seeing them for the first time. Then she glared at me as she realized I was messing with her. Glancing at Shinji's screen, which had grown a little, I could see the kid trying to hold back his laughter.

"Your unit's made with the best Technology of this Earth, yeah. But I've got stuff your scientists haven't even dreamed of yet. So don't be so sure your pre-mass-spaceflight-based technology base is the end-all," I finally said, hoping she'd be agreeable if she really considered what she'd be getting. Instead, she took it the wrong way.

"No way! You got that stuff by cheating. My Eva's pure, and it's going to stay that way!"

I blinked at that. "Rei?" I asked, opening a new window that, unlike Asuka's, took up residence beside Shinji's, where it was supposed to, "what readings, if any, are you getting from Unit 03?"

"Approximately twice the power of our current Units, multiple weapon hard points visible, as well as a rather small radar cross-section," the quiet girl closed her eyes for a moment, before continuing, "your Eva feels like a blank hole to Unit 00's senses, and," she opened her eyes again, "it's apparently got much better sensors than ours, if what I understood of your earlier complains was accurate."

"Not too shabby," I said, impressed. She'd obviously paid attention when attending piloting classes with the other TIE Bomber pilots.

"It doesn't matter. My unit 02 is still better than his stupid hybrid. Untainted and Unsullied, it's the pinnacle of-" she cut off as I overrode her Unit's communications system and forcibly muted her. She could still hear, however, and as soon as she realized nobody could hear her and her lips stopped flapping, she began flailing around trying to get our attention as I began speaking to Nabiki on an open channel.

"Admiral Tendo, have Pilot Sohryu's Callsign changed to 'Blue Thunder,' and get a crew to her Interceptor to give it an appropriate paint job."

Asuka started yelling in her window, but since I still had her muted, all she could do was flop around on screen. Turning towards the myriad of controls at my fingertips, I called up Dr. Akagi on a private channel and closed my video link to the other pilots for a moment.

"Doctor, can you loosen some of the restraints on Unit 2 for a moment while its pilot is flopping around in the entry plug like a fish?"

She smirked darkly at what I intended, and quickly replied, "I'll see what I can do," before closing the connection. After a moment, Unit 02 twitched, then suddenly began flopping around on the ground much like Asuka was doing in the entry plug. I knew that normally, the connection between Pilot and Unit would be held back in case the pilot damaged the Eva and were fed back some of the pain, but while we waited for the test to begin, I figured some humility would do the Redhead good.

When she finally realized the world outside her Eva was sideways, Asuka quickly noticed how high her feedback rate was, and blushed almost as red as her plug suit as Unit 02 climbed to its feet. The once-proud and red Unit was now coated in dirt dust and mud that had been kicked up from her impromptu seizure, and I nodded as I un-muted her once again.

"Looking good, Asuka! Maybe one day we'll sign you up for real break dancing competitions."

"I hate you!" she shot back, as Dr. Akagi notified me she was setting Unit 02 back to normal levels.

"All right, we're a couple minutes from starting the activation procedures. Sub-Commander, if you would, please brief your fellow pilots," Fuyutsuki said over the Command channel.

"Okay, here's what's going on. You all were told this is a potentially dangerous situation, and now I'll tell you exactly why. Unit 04's been possessed by an Angel, and we're here to ensure that Bardiel, the Angel of Blood, doesn't kill everyone on Earth by causing Third Impact."

The three pilots looked somewhat shocked by this, and it was a moment before Shinji spoke up, "does Aida know?"

I nodded, "The Command Staff, most of the site supervisors, and Kensuke and his family are all aware of the danger, and the reason we're doing this. I gave him the choice, and he accepted."

Shinji nodded, and then turned to look at the building the tests were going to be taking place.

"I assume we are not to engage the Angel as we would normally," Rei asked in her unnaturally calm voice.

"No, we're going to work together on this in two steps. First, we have to subdue the Angel long enough to remove the Entry plug and get it to a safe location. Then we're going to try to destroy the Angel, hopefully leaving enough pieces of Unit 03 for Dr. Akagi to put Humpty-Dumpty back together again."

"Hump-what?" Asuka asked, not recognizing the story.

I shook my head, "It's before your time," I offered, not too surprised. "In any case, Shinji and Asuka, you two have the arms. I want you to be careful when you deal with this one. Not only can they apparently elongate, this angel literally tore apart Unit's 00 and 02 in the original timeline. Use your AT-Field to get in close, and hold on as if your life depended on it once you are in range, because they very well do."

"What am I to do?" Rei asked.

"Rei, you're to move in after Shinji and Asuka succeed and capture Bardiel's legs. You need to hold the unit dorsal-side-up so I can get in close enough to remove the entry plug."

"You can't just eject it?" Shinji asked, looking worried. Since Kensuke was his friend, I wasn't surprised, and I didn't blame him.

"Originally, the plug was sealed in place by some sort of sticky mass. I'm going to have to cut it out of the unit by force. If that fails, I'm going to have to cut the plug open, and carry Kensuke far enough away that we can teleport him to safety before dealing with the Angel."

"Why not just-" I cut him off, knowing he'd ask beforehand.

"We can't. We had a positive lock on Unit 04, and we still had to replace most of its legs… the Evangelion Unit's unique biological and technological systems confuse the Teleporters greatly. I can't risk teleporting only part of Kensuke out. It's too dangerous."

Shinji looked upset, but nodded, obviously understanding what I meant, even if he didn't like it. Hell, I didn't like it, but the mannequin's we'd tried to beam out of Unit 04's plug had ended up on pieces, not only missing parts, but oddly warped or mutilated, like it had been placed in a blender during the transition. That we got Unit 04 in a working condition was still being looked into by Dr. Akagi and Cantrell.

"Are there any questions?" I asked, not expecting any. I turned to look at Asuka, who's defiant face from earlier had been replaced by an almost shockingly mature look of determination.

"Get this done right, and I'll talk to Admiral Tendo about getting you all Combat Certified in your respective fighters." Asuka, hearing this, got an even more determined look in her eye, and even Rei nodded and set her jaw in concentration. Shinji just nodded, and Unit 01 shuddered once before moving off to its pre-assigned position. The other two took a moment before heading off as well.

"You didn't mention they might have to sleep inside their Evas as we wait for Zeruel," Makoto said, looking at me in concern. I nodded, glancing at the screen that showed the Thunder had resumed its geosynchronous orbit overhead, waiting for the order to send down anything from help to hell, in the form of green turbolaser blasts. Between here and Tokyo-3, Makoto and Nabiki flew the modified shuttle in a holding pattern as they shared sensor readings with Nerv like a futuristic AWACS.

"They're concentrating on one fight at a time. Something I wish I could do more often," I replied, as I took up my position and waited for the countdown that had popped up during my briefing to reach zero.

"It's time. Take care, Kyle. I love you."

"Love you too, Mako-chan. I'll see you when we're done." I smiled as she blew me a kiss before closing the video link, and a moment later, the countdown struck zero, and the building before me exploded spectacularly.

---------------------------------------------

Almost forgot my notes! Thanks, of course, to Nate and Parker for their pre-reading, and.. well, damn, thanks to just about everyone who managed to read through to here for not forgetting me in the past.. ohh.. 6 months. I'd love to offer up an excuse for the extended pause, but as it is, I really don't know what kept me from writing, other than an odd inability to committ to anything I managed to type up. I've gone through quite a few words in the intervening time.. here's to hoping now that I've got something up, I can start back up again without another giant pause.

And thanks again for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

As the Matsushiro Test Facility went up in an orange and black ball of flame, I briefly thought about all the staff we'd had working there, and just hoped our plans kept everyone alive. Then, as the black mass of smoke began its climb upward, I dismissed the thought as a humanoid figure stepped out of the wreckage and in our direction.

"Look alive, we've got visual contact. Engage on my mark. Three-"

I watched as the Angel/Eva moved towards the two depressions Units 01 and 02 were lying in wait within, and counted down slowly as the time to emerge drew closer. Of course, from my angle, I couldn't see it visually, but with the _Jupiter's Thunder_'s camera-feed, it was fairly obvious just what I was looking for.

"Two-"

'Just a little more,' I thought; "one..." And there!

"Mark!"

From within their valley-like depressions, both Units emerged and rapidly approached from its side, while Unit 00, which had already been passed, approached from behind, Getting ready to snag Bardiel's legs.

The Angel roared and spun to face Unit 02, which was closest, and I scowled as I waved my hand and summoned forth the most powerful AT-Field I could. Unlike what I could make on my own, this field was massive, and apparently extremely noticeable, as the Angel paused to turn towards me as if sensing a greater threat.

Of course, I'd timed it so that Unit 02 would arrive and have a moment to try to snag the thing's arm, and Asuka succeeded in that, Shinji approaching rapidly from the other side to do the same.

Unfortunately, we'd underestimated the Angel's strength, because after a moment, it simply brought its two arms forward, sending Units 01 and 02 crashing into each other hard enough to bend some of their armor.

"Watch out, idiot!" Asuka roared as she dove forward to recapture the Angel's arm. Before she reached it, however, she rebounded off an AT-Field that had sprung up almost the moment she had started moving, and I scowled as Unit 01 reached out and prodded the Field that kept it back as well.

"Never the easy way," I mumbled, before opening an audio channel. "Alright, the initial plan has failed. Fall back to secondary positions and get your weapons. We need to bring down that AT-Field and retrieve that Entry Plug fast."

Switching on the targeting computer, I smiled as I realized that tying some of the systems into the Entry Plug wasn't too bad an idea, as I could visually designate a target just by looking at it.

"Get clear!" I announced, before opening with a blast from the wrist-mounted laser cannons. While not anywhere near as devastating as a turbolaser, each blast was on par with a medium air-to-air missile, and it was highly unlikely I'd run out of ammo any time soon, so I started firing to maintain it's attention while the others got armed.

Much to my annoyance, however, Bardiel didn't seem to want to take his punishment without a fight, and he leapt up, much higher than I would have expected a giant bio-mechanical war machine to be able to achieve, and only at the last minute did I back away as it landed right where I'd been standing, it's fist buried up to its elbow in the asphalt of the road I'd been standing on.

"So, you want to go hand-to-hand?" I asked rhetorically, as I fell back into a fighting stance. While I'd practiced with Makoto during our free time on occasion, this would be the first real fight I'd had since squaring off against Prince Thrakhath's personal guards in the last universe we'd stopped in.

Bardiel began with a punch that wasn't a punch; his frighteningly stretchy arms almost catching Unit 03 in the chin as I bent back to avoid the hit.

"Kyle, you can't afford to toy with it," Makoto shouted as I danced around its lunges as the Angel made repeated attempts to get its hands on me. Sighing, I grabbed the next punch and tried to throw the Angel in a simple Aikido toss, when the arm merely stretched, a moment before its other hand wrapped around Unit 03's neck and it started drooling on my exposed side.

"Oh shit" I mumbled, before frowning. Nothing was happening. Actually, I could feel something tingling slightly along my own side, but a glance at one of the status screens showed no signs of Angelic Contamination.

"Can't contaminate what's already under Angelic control," I muttered, backhanding the apparently confused Angel. As Bardiel fell back, his grip weakened enough for me to shake myself free, I felt a sudden urge to leap away and did so a moment before a stream of over-sized, high-powered bullets tore through the space I'd just occupied and flattened themselves against the Angel's AT-Field.

"Thanks for the warning, Asuka," I grumbled, as the redhead proceeded to empty her weapon to no obvious effect. A moment later, Shinji told us to get back, and as I jumped away, the repulsorlifts activating to carry me further as I turned to look at the purple Unit.

In its hands was an oversized weapon, this one shaped somewhat like the AT4 Anti-tank weapon I'd trained with back at Fort Knox. This one, however, was large enough to fire a cruise missile, and after a moment for Asuka to get clear, that's exactly what it released, the missile passing under me going so fast that it barely had a chance to extend its stabilizer fins before it exploded, its warhead pre-programmed to deliver the maximum amount of force to an Angel's AT-Field.

"The Angel's AT-Field is beginning to weaken, continue your assault and prepare to extract the pilot," Ritsuko said to all of us as the assault continued. I targeted the Angel's back and fired off a Concussion missile while Rei circle-strafed while repeatedly firing, a move that got a chuckle from me as Asuka went to retrieve more ammo for the oversized machine pistol she'd used before.

As we continued to keep the Angel on the defensive, we also closed in, prepared to make our move as soon as we received notification that the AT-Field was down.

"Careful," I muttered over the airwaves as Dr. Akagi notified us that the Field was almost nonexistent, "We don't want to harm the Entry Plug. Target the front of the Angel only." I punctuated my order with another burst from the wrist-lasers, a moment before Shinji managed to get a hit in with a rifle that penetrated the AT-Field and put a rather ugly hole in the Angels torso.

"Move in!" I shouted at the same time Ritsuko announced the AT-Field was down. Asuka and Shinji literally dove in, and this time dug their feet in when the Angel tried to smash them together again. The two were jarred, but nowhere near as bad as before.

Bardiel roared, probably in displeasure, as Rei moved in and wrapped Unit 00's arms around its feet, the three of them keeping the squirming Angel as immobile as possible while I moved in and pulled the Progressive Knife stored on Unit 03's waist.

"Extracting entry plug," I announced as I activated the blade and began slicing the webbing around the plug. Bardiel redoubled his efforts to escape as I continued, but the other pilots held him fast, and a moment later, I cut the last strand, the Entry plug sliding further out as it was released.

"Got it!" I yelled as I pulled the plug free. "You okay in there, Aida?" I asked as the now-free Entry Plug re-established its connection to the network.

"I think... I'm going to be sick," the new pilot said, a moment before the video window closed. I frowned, and stepped away to set the plug down so Aida could step clear and be teleported up to the Thunder.

"Shit," I heard Asuka mumble. I spun around in time to see Unit 01 thrown clear, a moment before Unit 00 was torn from Bardiel's legs and thrown hard into Shinji's unit as it tried to climb to its feet.

"Contamination in Unit 02!"

"Get OUT!" Asuka cried, as the Angel held Unit 02 by the neck with one hand, the other holding the red Unit's arm fully extended as it drooled just like before, the thick purple substance landing on Unit 02's upper torso, where the armor was visibly warping.

"Oh no you don't," I muttered as I vaulted to deliver a flying axe-kick to the Angel's head. Bardiel shifted at the last moment, so instead of sending it to the ground, I caught its shoulder and sent the Angel spinning, fortunately breaking its hold on Asuka.

"Pilot's status?" I asked, as Shinji shoulder-charged the Angel at full speed. The kid must've shaken free from Rei the moment he heard Asuka was in trouble. The off-balance being tumbling end-over-end as Unit-01's momentum was delivered to its backside.

"Unit 02's contained the contamination. Asuka should be fine," Fuyutsuki stated, before turning to look away from the video pickup for a moment. Finally, he nodded then turned back, "Unit 04 has been listed as an acceptable loss. Use whatever force is necessary to destroy the Thirteenth Angel."

I nodded, "understood." The other pilots acknowledged as well, while Rei opened up with another blast from her weapon on the flopping Angel. Nearby, Shinji growled as he drew his progressive knife and moved in for the kill, Rei's fire abruptly stopping as he got close to her line of fire, a moment before she joined him, prog-knife in hand as well. Shrugging within Unit 04's Entry plug, I glanced at the knife in hand, and approached as well, intent on finishing up.

"You want Progressive Forks?" Nabiki asked rhetorically, moments before Bardiel was vivisected. I shot her a withering glare as bright-red blood exploded from whatever wounds were made, the crimson fluid liberally coating the three of us as we went to work.

"This has got to be the most disturbing thing I've ever gotten to participate in," I mumbled.

"Yeah," Shinji replied absently as Bardiel's arms were successfully removed. Unit 01 took its knee off the Angel's back then, and turned to work on its legs, when the Angel bucked, sending the precariously-balanced Eva down, before the damn thing leapt to its feet and roared in open defiance.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," I mumbled as the armless, bloody Angel took off towards Tokyo-3. Glancing at the area around us, a rural area with only the occasional building, I shrugged and armed one of my Proton Torpedoes, aiming for the Angels retreating backside.

"Proton Torpedo away!" I said as the missile took to the air, rapidly eating up the distance to Bardiel before exploding with a flash.

"Would you please stop using nuclear weapons against the Angels," Fuyutsuki asked after the static had cleared from the airwaves.

"There's a weak blue pattern waveform at the site of detonation. The Thirteenth is still alive," Dr. Akagi announced, cutting off my reply.

As the debris settled, I sighed as the battered and torn body of Bardiel wiggled its way forward, obviously still desperate to complete its mission, despite the obvious futility. I took a step forward towards it, when suddenly a red form flew past me. "Wha-?"

"Allow me," Asuka snarled as she leapt, her prog-knife held high as she descended on Bardiel with the intent to kill in her very pose.

"Die!" she screeched as she landed, bringing the blade down into the now-visible core with earth-shattering force. Bardiel shuddered once, before falling limply back to the ground, defeated.

"And we're done here," I said, opening video windows to most of Nerv.

"Unit 02 needs to come back to headquarters immediately for decontamination," Ritsuko said, earning a snarl from Asuka.

"Sure, send down the barge for Units 00, 01, and 02, and I'll walk back," I said, glad to be free of the cables the other Evas had to operate with. As SHODAN complied, I turned to look at the mess we'd made of Bardiel and wondered about how Nerv intended to clean it up.

"The black knight," I muttered to myself, remembering the armless figure from Monty Python, before shrugging and taking off towards Nerv. The others needed a ride, but when you could fly... well...

The trip back was relatively quiet, most comm chatter meant for someone other than me, though I got a bit of a surprise when I arrived and Ritsuko told me to meet everyone in the meeting room. After leaving Unit 04 where the Barge could retrieve it, I crawled out of the Plug, made a quick detour to the showers, and walked into the meeting room a couple minutes after almost everyone else.

"Okay, so what's up? I Thought we were going to stay in our Evas until Zeruel appeared," I asked from the conference room table. The same room we'd discussed the fight with Bardiel in, actually.

"There was a slight discrepancy in the reports that indicate we might have up to three days before Zeruel appears," Fuyutsuki offered after a moment.

"Oh?"

"Pilot Suzuhara died in one version of the original scenario, but in the animated version, he survived, and slept for approximately three days. A large amount of that had been edited out, and apparently we were looking at the doctored summaries... I apologize again for the deception," the older man explained.

I shrugged, "old news. And this is good news. Three days to plan and prepare. What's being done with Unit 03?"

"Despite the superficial appearance, the damage done was too severe to save the unit," Ritsuko said as Makoto and Nabiki walked in. "Also," she added, "even if you'd spared the Unit to the point that I felt we could repair it, my professional opinion would be to trash it anyway, incase we ended up repairing an angel, and not an Eva."

I nodded at that, as Makoto turned to Misato and asked how the ground crews at Matsushiro were.

"Well, the foreknowledge of the event paid off, almost everyone was unharmed, having been told beforehand to get to their designated safety shelters during the actual launch."

"Almost?" Nabiki pressed, frowning.

Misato sighed and looked down, "some staff members didn't fully believe there was any danger, and stayed around to watch, or took their time getting to safety. We've got two confirmed deaths, and a handful of injuries, but surveillance records clearly indicate all casualties were at the sufferer's fault. We did everything we could at our end."

"Well, we can't save people from their own stupidity," Ritsuko said. Makoto glared at her, but remained silent. I sighed to myself as I considered what they felt. I'd never been one for endorsing stupidity, but death was a little harsh for punishment. You couldn't learn from your mistakes if you didn't survive them. Still, they had nobody to blame but themselves, and at this point, there was little we could do about it, so I remained silent as everyone else mulled it over.

Finally, "we'll give their families the full benefits as if they'd died in an accident." Everyone looked at me, and I shrugged, "I can afford it on my own if I have to... but really, we only had people there that we needed, and we're all still alive, so whether or not they did everything asked of them to their fullest, they did their job and kept Third Impact from happening, so they get their benefits." Everyone nodded at that, and I turned to Dr. Akagi and quickly brought out the next topic of conversation, "what're we doing for Zeruel?"

Ritsuko blinked before clearing her throat and motioning to Maya to get her computer out. "Our original plan, inducing a berserker state in Unit 04, has come across some... complications."

"Oh?" Fuyutsuki asked, echoing, apparently, everyone's thoughts but Ibuki and Akagi's.

"Unit 04 has no soul, and the berserker stage requires one to take place. We've gone through the files, and while there are some complications, we'd like to propose Unit 02 as the replacement for 04 in the plan."

"Not 01?" Makoto Hyuuga asked.

"While Unit 01 and 00 are capable of carrying out the plan, 00's Soul is predisposed towards the probable destruction of Nerv, or various individuals herein."

"Who is the Soul in 00? None of the paperwork could say," Nabiki asked, frowning.

Dr. Akagi sighed, and looked at Commander Fuyutsuki for a moment before he nodded. "The Soul in Unit 00 is Naoko Akagi, my mother."

"But... I thought the soul had to have some sort of connection to the pilot! Rei's a genetically engineered-"

"I know what Rei is," Ritsuko snapped, before taking a calming breath and continuing, "while it's preferable to have a soul that has some sort of connection to the pilot, any soul can be used, since the pilot's will almost always overrides that of the Evas. Higher Synch-ratios result, however, from the Soul's desire to give the Pilot what they want; in other words: paternal instinct."

"So... Shinji's class..." Makoto asked.

"The class has viable souls of a parent in the area. The other classes are full of children conceived in the months following Second Impact; viable, but not preferred."

"So why Unit 02?"

"Asuka's mother's soul is broken, which is what caused her body's mental breakdown and eventual suicide. If we intend to try restoring Yui Ikari after this battle is over, I'm unsure how an S2 Engine would interfere, if at all... However, Since Kyoko is not... 'all there,' the chances of a successful retrieval are already infinitesimal."

"And unit 00?"

"If an Eva with hostile intent were given an unlimited power supply and then rampaged like it did during two of Rei's activation tests, the damages could be catastrophic. Being made from Adam, an S2-powered Eva is essentially an Angel, capable of causing Third Impact."

"Like SEELE's plan," Aoba mumbled.

"Speaking of, we've gotten reports of a large division of troops and armor unloading in Aomori. The old men may be moving," Fuyutsuki said with a grimace.

"We'll worry about them when they poke their heads out of whatever hole they're hiding in. Nerv is under my protection, and no terrestrial army is going to last long against the firepower I have at my disposal," I replied darkly. He nodded, then turned back to the monitor displaying Unit 02.

"The confrontation with Bardiel was a success, the only casualty being some of Unit 02's Chest armor. While there are still some tests to be run, I feel it's safe to declare 02 good for combat as soon as the armor is replaced," Ritsuko supplied.

"Want me to have Cantrell send down some replacements?"

"I'll have to send up the specifications, since Unit 02's armor is shaped differently, but yes, now is as good a time as any to begin conversions."

"Send up specifications for 00 and 01, too. I'll prioritize it, and a set of spare armor to be sent down as well, so there's no pointless waiting," I replied, glancing at the camera I knew SHODAN was watching from.

"Thank you," Fuyutsuki said, while Misato nodded gratefully.

"So, Asuka?" Nabiki asked, turning to look at Unit 02 still onscreen.

"Or Rei or Shinji. But you," Ritsuko said, looking at me, "can't, because usurping all control from the soul would negate a berserker state."

"So... why is it this plan began?" I asked, frowning at Maya.

She shifted under my gaze, but didn't respond; instead it was Dr. Akagi who spoke up for her. "The Lieutenant's plan was perfectly viable with the information we had. Only after going over the readings recovered from Unit 03's Entry Plug, and comparing them to the readings from all four other Evas, was it discovered just how and why the plan wouldn't work."

"Oh," I replied, feeling somewhat sheepish for questioning Ibuki.

"Asuka won't like anyone else piloting Unit 02," Misato pointed out.

"Well, it's dangerous anyway, so we're going to have to do the same thing we did with Aida, and ask if she wants to, then move on to the next person. If all three... no, all _four _decline, then we'll have to hire a reserve pilot."

"Awfully loose with your money today," Nabiki pointed out, looking curious.

"We all lived to fight another battle. And I worked off some stress, too. I'm feeling somewhat better than I have, lately," I offered. She nodded in acceptance, and I turned to look at the camera.

"How's Aida doing?"

"The Fourth Children," SHODAN stated, "is recovering from what appears to be simple nausea. While basic medical scans show no lasting injuries or problems, a blood test has shown some irregularities compared with a sample taken before the Activation Test. While deep body scans show no S2 Organ, and EKG shows no discrepancies from the human norm, the doctors have decided to keep him aboard where he can be fully monitored incase there's more to this than initially appears. Scheduled debriefing will be done via teleconference, at whatever time you designate."

"We'll debrief the pilot after we've gone over the next operation with the Children. Due to this, however, I'm removing Aida from the roster until we're sure he's no threat," Fuyutsuki stated; an order.

"There is one slight problem," Misato said, earning curious glances from everyone in the room. "The Children are still unaware of the natures of the Evangelion Units."

"What?!" I'm not sure who all shouted it, but my voice contributed to the massive outburst.

Misato looked guiltily down at the floor, before continuing, "Shinji and Asuka know what originally was supposed to happen for the most part, and they understand enough of the basics to get by..."

"I'm sensing a 'but' coming up here," Nabiki intoned with a frown.

"But... I chose to edit out the information that might render them unable to endanger their Units or themselves."

"On what authority?" Fuyutsuki asked coldly.

"On mine," Misato shot back. "Look, these children have been forced to grow up in a world far from anything we had to deal with. They understand things like sacrifice and death far more so than any of us did at 14, but they're also still _children_. Still maturing, still growing up... And they're all missing their parents. If they knew that they were actually hurting their mothers every time their Eva was hurt, especially with the nerve-link's feedback allowing them to feel everything the Eva feels- ..." She trailed off as the implications sunk in. While I'd wanted everyone to know fully what Nerv was about, I wasn't sure I could fully fault the Major's logic.

"While I don't like it," I said, frowning at Katsuragi, "I can't really say it wasn't properly thought out... it was cold and calculating, and in the end, they're going to be very angry at you for it... but it might have been the most prudent thing, considering the alternative," I finally said, diplomatically.

Fuyutsuki, Dr. Akagi, Nabiki and Aoba all nodded, though both Makoto's -Shigeru and Kino- as well as Lieutenant Ibuki frowned darkly at Misato, obviously disagreeing.

"As it stands," Fuyutsuki said, drawing everyone's attention, "we've got to find a pilot for this operation, and potentially go through a complete activation test, plug suit fitting, physical, and psych exam... and we only have, at most, three days to do it, otherwise we're going to potentially destroy half of Japan taking out the next Angel."

Everyone looked a little green at that, and I glanced at the camera, before making my way over to the room's telephone and had Section 2 bring the Pilots to us.

Since we weren't sure exactly when Zeruel would attack, the Pilots had been pulled from school for the next few days anyway, and living at Nerv they were ready to launch as soon as possible whenever the Magi detected the Fourteenth Angel.

When all three had filed into the room, there was a moment of silence as we all looked at each other, before Kozo spoke up to begin the impromptu briefing. "From what we know of the Fourteenth Angel, we're looking at the most powerful opponent yet, originally taking out all three Units before bring brought down by a berserker Unit 01."

"Shinji did it again?" Asuka screeched, clearly appalled.

"I'm sorry," he said, looking down.

He'd paled somewhat at the mention of going berserker again, and I rolled my eyes, before picking up where the Commander of Nerv had left off. "Unfortunately, our only reasonable option is to induce a berserker state in an Evangelion Unit and hope it takes out the Angel."

"So why tell us? Just let Super boy take it out like he did originally," Asuka snapped before grumbling something under her breath.

"Unfortunately, future plans render Unit 01 unusable in this operation and Unit 00 isn't capable of handling a berserker stage and the potential ramifications if the berserker Eva does as Unit 01 did originally," Ritsuko said.

"What happened?" Rei asked, before the others could ask.

"It... acquired its own S2 engine." This time Maya fielded the answer.

"So you're going to use Unit 04, right?" Shinji asked, almost hopefully. It was fairly obvious he didn't want to go through the berserker again. 'Him or anyone he considered a friend,' I mentally amended.

I regretted not being able to give him what he wanted, "unfortunately, my Eva is incapable of going into the berserker stage... and I'm unable to pilot an Eva that _is_ without rendering it incapable of doing so while I pilot."

"You want to use Unit 02?" Asuka asked with some trepidation.

"Unit 02 is the only one we feel safe enough to use in this situation," Fuyutsuki explained.

"Why are they here then?" Asuka asked, pointing at Rei and Shinji.

"Because we need a pilot to volunteer for this mission... it's potentially as dangerous as the activation test was to young Aida," I said.

"Sir," Shinji asked, looking at me imploringly, "how is Kensuke?"

"He's recovered well, merely under observation aboard the Thunder. You can visit him when this business with Zeruel is over."

"You are not allowing him back down here?" Rei asked with a slight frown.

"Not yet, but lets try to focus on the upcoming problem so we'll have time to catch up with friends," Misato said, getting the conversation back on track.

"It's obvious who should pilot; after all it's my Unit 02," the redhead declared.

Shinji frowned and turned to her, "Asuka... please, it's not... going berserker..." he trailed off, apparently unable to continue explaining, and hoping she understood. Instead she sneered at him.

"Ha! Stupid little boy; I'm not afraid of Eva, unlike you! I can handle it, no problem."

"Damn it Soryu, this isn't a contest. You don't get a prize for killing the most Angels! No victory parade, no celebratory speech, no key to the city. You do this... you _all_ do this," I said, indicating the three of them," so that everyone out there," I waved my hand at the surface above," can go on sucking air. If you keep treating this like some sort of stupid contest, I'm going to pull more than just your flight clearance."

"But-" she started, weakly.

"No 'buts!' No more excuses! Shinji and Rei understand the risks, it's time you do too. You're a damn good Pilot, and could teach Shinji and Rei a thing or two, I'm sure, but you're not going to demean them anymore, or I'll have your wings, your plug suit, and your nerve clips before you finish your insult. Do you understand me?"

Asuka glared at me, but mumbled an affirmative.

Unfortunately, I wasn't willing to accept something so weak. "What was that?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, now that that's out of the way," Ritsuko interjected, drawing everyone's attention, "you three have thirty minutes to talk it over. Asuka, you should ask Shinji- _nicely_- why he doesn't want to do it so you might get a better understanding of what you're in for if you accept."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Rei?" Fuyutsuki asked, drawing the First Children's attention, "will you pilot if Asuka declines? You're under no obligation to answer now, but I assume you already have an answer."

"I will pilot if Pilot Soryu declines... and Major Katsuragi agrees."

Everyone paused to look at her for the surprisingly random clause, before looking at a shocked Misato.

"I-" she looked at everyone, then swallowed, "why does my opinion matter, Rei?"

"From the Major's attitude towards me after the arrival of the new Sub-Commander, it's obvious the Major has learned of my history before the original Commander intended. Given her own history, I'm unsure I'd be the best choice for this sortie if the Major's concerns influence her judgment during the battle. In that instance, I'd prefer to step aside to help ensure success in the operation."

Everyone was somewhat taken aback at the announcement, and it was a moment before any of us could formulate a response. Finally, Nabiki broke the silence with a soft, "an astute observation."

"Well," I said, finally, "all things considered, I suppose-" I was cut off, however, by a quiet growl from the second Children.

Asuka, quivering with barely-restrained rage, glared daggers at everyone around her before speaking, "if I say no, that doll isn't ever allowed in my Unit."

"Christ," I mumbled as her announcement concluded with a hiss, "this is getting retarded. Take your half hour, and call us when you've decided Asuka. We'll cover the technicalities while we wait for your answer."

"I don't want her near my Eva!" Asuka shouted, before storming out the door. A moment later Shinji ducked out after hastily apologizing to us for her, and Rei left after a moment as well, leaving the rest of us to stare at the door in silence.

"That was interesting," Makoto stated, earning a few nods.

"I hope, for our sake," Ritsuko said a moment later, "that she accepts. Replacing an Eva's core with all the other tests to be scheduled if we have to get a new pilot will be very hard, if not impossible without severely compromising the quality."

"Afraid your staff can't handle an all-nighter?" I asked, quirking a brow at her.

"If they can't, we all die. A little concern isn't exactly a bad thing in this instance," Ritsuko pointed out, to which I merely nodded.

"While we wait for an answer, should we discuss our preliminary plans for dealing with Arael?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"It's in space. I'll blow it out of the sky," I replied dismissively.

"Like you did with the Tenth?" the Commander asked wryly, and I shrugged.

"Considering the apparent disparity between the strength of individual Angels' AT-Fields, it's a safe bet that the Fifteenth's is going to be much more powerful than the Tenths," Ritsuko stated, obviously annoyed at my apparent thick-headedness.

"I'm well aware of the variable power levels each Angel seems to have," I replied hotly, "but the Tenth was perforated, and unlike Zeruel, I can unleash those gigaton Heavy Turbolasers we were talking about to perforate Arael, too."

"It might," Misato finally said, "be prudent to have a backup plan."

"I can retrieve the Lance if you end up having to toss it, but I intend to have the Evas and pilots all down below when it appears. Being psychically assaulted ruined Asuka the first time around. It's stupid to risk that on any one if we don't have to," I explained hotly.

"You've certainly-" Whatever Fuyutsuki was going to say was cut off as alarms began blaring everywhere.

"You're shitting me," I mumbled, before my datapad beeped. As I pulled it out of my pocket, the main screen in the room flashed to displaying the countryside, where quite a few structures were burning.

"Angel?" I asked as I thumbed through a report detailing detected explosions all around Tokyo-3.

"No Blue Waveform detected... but..." Lieutenant Ibuki frowned at her laptop for a moment, before her eyes grew wide, "we've just lost almost all our forward defensive posts, sensors, radar sites, and stationary defenses."

"What?" Fuyutsuki roared. I glanced at the elder man in surprise; he didn't seem to be one to lose his cool, even if this was a surprise of the unplanned, nasty variety.

"Almost all your heavy weapons emplacements and sensors have been destroyed. No radar contacts indicate a high probability of sabotage" SHODAN reported.

"SEELE?" I asked, turning to Fuyutsuki. He nodded, his mouth set in a grim, determined line.

"Their intentions are fairly obvious. Blind us, disable our defenses, and hope the next Angel gets through," Misato said, a moment before the attention-snaring Angel Alarm died, leaving only the regular emergency klaxons blaring.

"Surely they realize the Thunder can do everything those buildings could and more," Makoto said, scowling.

"Maybe. Or they underestimated its capabilities. Still, this is bad," Nabiki said, frowning at the camera, "how many men did we lose?"

"I'd say around a thousand at the least. We registered over thirty above-ground explosions, and quite a few questionable dust-plumes that indicate below-ground structures were lost as well," SHODAN answered.

I winced. That was not good. While Nerv itself employed roughly ten thousand people in the Tokyo-3 area alone, most of the staff hired for combat-roles were used to man installations of military design. We'd lost a fairly large chunk of our defensive force at once.

"We've just lost whatever chance we had of holding off an aggressive assault on our own," Misato said, moments before the Children ran into the room, looking worried.

"What happened?" Shinji asked.

"Is it the next Angel?" Asuka inquired a moment later.

"We just lost most of our ground-based sensor-grid and weapon emplacements," Ritsuko stated.

"But, why?" Shinji asked, confused.

"Apparently the people who originally designed Nerv actually want Third Impact to happen," Nabiki supplied, earning a shocked gasp from Shinji and Asuka.

"That's insane!" Asuka shouted.

"How did it happen," Rei inquired a moment later.

"We're not entirely certain," Misato answered, turning to look at a map displaying silenced outposts, "we think it was wide-scale sabotage. Things carried in that can't be detected by the Thunder or the guards."

"Most of the outlying sites have backup generators, a simple grenade could set off the propane tanks," Ritsuko said, looking over the holes in sensor coverage.

"I'll pilot," Asuka said, suddenly.

"You will?" Misato asked.

Asuka nodded once, grimly, looking at the screen displaying a pile of rubble that used to be a Radar center. "Whoever did this can't be allowed to get away with it. I know I can't punish them... but I can prevent them from getting what they want, with my Unit 02," she explained.

"Did you talk to Shinji?" Makoto asked, and I nodded to her, the question on the tip of my own tongue.

Asuka glared at the Third, but nodded, "I did. But it doesn't matter. Nobody can Pilot my Unit 02 better than me, so I'm going to do it."

"Well, if you're sure," Ritsuko said, before turning to Lieutenant Ibuki, "we'll go get Unit 02 as ready as we can."

The two of them walked out after that, and I nodded at the redhead, "Thanks, Asuka."

She opened her mouth as if to reply, but closed it after a moment, merely nodding at me. Considering what she was probably going to instinctively say, it was probably the best choice. A moment later, she dragged Shinji out the door, mumbling to him that they had to make sure "that crazy doctor doesn't break Unit 02."

"What will happen now?" Rei asked, watching the arriving fire-crews begin to battle the blaze lapping away at the remains of one of the missile-launching structures to the south of Tokyo-3.

"Well... I suppose I'm going to have to bring down a force capable of holding off a potential assault," I said, turning to look at the camera. "SHODAN, get General Hongo down here, and brief her on the situation."

"Understood," the AI intoned, before killing the connection.

Fuyutsuki glanced around the briefing room, before getting everyone's attention. "We'll conclude this meeting and reconvene tomorrow at noon to discuss this development, as well as anything else that might come up overnight. Someone tell Dr. Akagi she has to be here, though the Bridge staff can act as department heads while we're there. I suggest everyone get some rest; today was a long one, and tomorrow promises to be even longer."

Everyone muttered their acknowledgements before moving towards the door.

"Sub Commander?" I turned to look at Rei, who had followed me into the hallway. "Am I to come to the meeting as well?"

I mulled over that one for a moment, before shrugging, "I have no objections to you or the pilots attending. We'll probably cover troop placement and other mundane, non-Evangelion things for the most part, but since we could very well cover something Eva-related, your opinions would carry weight."

Rei stared at me for a moment, before frowning, "That was not an answer."

I returned the frown, "It wasn't ignored then, was it?" She shook her head, and I shrugged, "It's your choice whether or not you attend. Your input isn't crucial, but it's not going to be ignored, either."

"I... I understand," she said, hesitantly.

I nodded, and turned to go, "anything else?" I asked over my shoulder.

"No sir."

After Rei had wandered off, I looked around at the seemingly barren halls for a moment before pulling out my datapad and calling Makoto.

"What's up?" she asked, looking a little tired.

Not that I could blame her. "Nothing now. I was wondering if you were interested in going out to eat. I'm getting kind of tired of rationed goods here at Nerv," I said with a smile.

"Oh, thank god. If I had to eat another bowl of canned soup, I was going to take the Thunder out and steal some cows," she said, relief in her very expression.

"So, steak is it?"

"As long as it's fresh, I don't care. Who else is coming?"

I thought for a moment, before shrugging, "I was hoping we could go by ourselves. If anyone else wants food, they know there's a city outside of HQ that has restaurants."

Makoto smiled at me and nodded, "It's a date, then."

I smirked at her, then nodded, before putting the datapad back and heading towards the surface, where I could get a lift to the Thunder. I would have just asked SHODAN to teleport me up, but the AI informed me that General Hongo was coming down on the Shuttle, and I decided to wait.

A moment later, what appeared at first to be a shooting star gradually grew into the shape of the three-winged Lambda-class shuttle, and made its way gracefully to the landing pad.

"No rush?" Makoto asked from behind me, making me jump.

"No rush," I replied, smirking to hide my surprise. Not that she couldn't tell; she was smiling at having managed to sneak up on me.

"So where do you want to go?" I asked as I slid my arm around her.

"There's the Hilltop," she said, referring to the bar/lounge Misato had introduced us to.

"Hmm, we'd probably end up dining with at least a couple others from Nerv if we ate there. Want to just swing by after?"

"That's good. How about Piko's?"

"Piko's?" I asked, turning to her as the shuttle lowered to the ground, "what's that?"

Makoto blinked at me in surprise, "you don't know? We've been told to go there daily by the bridge crew. They insist it's the best place in town."

"Oh... I've kind of been ignoring them lately. Everyone seems a little... tense." I replied, sheepishly. I hadn't ignored the important stuff, but I suppose I was kind of paying too little attention to things that weren't life-or-death. This whole world seemed to be about extremes.

"It's been a pretty busy couple of weeks, hasn't it?" she asked, mirroring my thoughts.

"Too damn crazy," I said, as High General Hongo stepped off the shuttle and saluted, apparently forewarned about our presence.

"At ease General," I said, nodding to her. She loosened her posture, and I pointed over my shoulder. "Head on inside and let SHODAN know you're here. She'll let you know where to go to start planning force deployment. There will be a briefing tomorrow at noon, local-time, where you'll probably get last minute suggestions and be given the go-ahead to begin bringing down our forces."

"Understood, Lord Kyle," she responded, snapping back to attention and saluting again.

I frowned at her, "Our forces _are_ ready to be deployed, aren't they, General?"

I was surprised at the spark of anger that flashed in her eyes as she replied hotly, "the Thunder's Ground forces are ready to rip apart anyone who dares stand against us, my Lord."

I nodded, "good. If it comes down to a fight, at least I know I won't have to worry about my ground forces."

"Lord Kyle, I-" I cut her off before she could continue.

"Makoto and I are going out on the town, to get away from work. Unless it's truly urgent, It'll have to wait for tomorrow's briefing."

"Yes, my Lord. Tomorrow." She said, saluting once more before slipping inside.

"Well, that went well," Makoto mumbled, before stepping into the shuttle, pulling me by my hand as I took a moment longer than her.

"At least we know-" I started, before Makoto put her finger over my lips.

"Shhh... No more work. For the next few hours, we're going to have fun," she whispered, before wrapping her arms around me. And we did; even if we did miss our last-minute reservation and ended up eating at a late-night ramen booth.

The next morning, after a quick shower and an even quicker conversation with SHODAN and the cooking staff of the Thunder, Makoto and I beamed down to Nerv around ten-thirty and let Section two know a large group of Stormtroopers would be through with supplies over the next hour or so.

When the command staff filed into the meeting room, it was to find Makoto and I sitting at the table with plates laden with food, and all along the back wall was a buffet-style table covered in silver dishes containing enough food to feed a small army.

"Eat up," I said, waving at the table somewhat needlessly as everyone made their way to the food.

"What's this for," Fuyutsuki asked, after sitting down at the table with a plate loaded with slices of roast beef and a sizable pile of steamed vegetables.

"I was tired of coming to these meetings hungry, and decided to have a meal catered. I had my own staff and supplies brought down, though, instead of paying out the nose for someone in town to bring their sub-par wares here in an attempt to gouge Nerv," I replied evenly. The older man blinked at that, before nodding in apparent understanding.

"Well, it looks great. I feel a little bad telling the Pilots there was no reason to come to today's meeting before I left," Misato said, sitting down with something I didn't immediately recognize, but smelled like it had something alcoholic in its creation.

"Actually, while Kyle was setting this up, I called in the pilots and the bridge crew, as well as some of the other department heads. When we're done eating, we're heading up to the Thunder to use its Briefing room while the staff here at Nerv eats in rotations."

I nodded at Fuyutsuki's questioning glance, and he nodded once in acceptance before digging in.

While I hadn't initially planned to feed everyone, Makoto's suggestion had made sense, and after a couple of quick questions to SHODAN, we'd set up a schedule that made the most sense.

As we were eating, Rei slipped in the door, and after a brief explanation, loaded a plate with vegetables and joined us.

"Are you coming to the briefing as well, Rei?" Nabiki asked.

The blue-haired Pilot nodded once before resuming her meal, and after a moment of waiting for a verbal response, Nabiki shrugged and went back to the steak she'd requested.

Finally, when everyone was done, we traveled up towards the surface, where the Thunder could get a teleport-lock on everyone clearly, and a moment later we materialized in one of the larger briefing rooms, the giant round table currently occupied by a map of the entire Tokyo-3 region.

"Impressive," Fuyutsuki intoned, and I realized with a smirk that the old man hadn't yet had a chance to board the Thunder.

"Ladies and gentlemen," High General Hongo said, drawing everyone's attention. She was sitting at one end of the table, with a pair of datapads before her, and a small console built into the table all displaying information she'd probably be sharing with us shortly. "If you'd all be seated, I'll lay out our plans for the upcoming days, and a quick overview of the power of the force we're deploying."

As everyone quickly got situated, the map shifted to a topographical representation of the area below, and numerous red, inverted pyramids appeared around the flat Tokyo-3, recognizable as the facilities lost yesterday.

"As you all know, last nights attack rendered Nerv almost defenseless and blind to any potential incursion, and I've been tasked to cover the deficiencies as best as possible, as _quickly_ as possible."

"Now, due to the difficulty it would be to integrate our two varying technology levels, I've decided to forgo direct replacement, and instead, propose to move the nearly-finished Star Destroyer being built into a low, geosynchronous orbit directly overhead, where its sensors can act as Nerv's to cover as much, if not more, of the area your installations once covered."

"Can the sensors pick up waveform patterns? An Angel doesn't give off the same readings an airplane or tank would," Ritsuko asked, worriedly.

"So far, all the Angels we've encountered have registered on the life form sensor as massive, unknown biomasses, save Iruel, who was too deep within Nerv for our sensors to reach."

"And we know the next few Angels are all coming from outside the Geofront, so all we have to watch out for is the Fifth Children," Misato added.

General Hongo nodded at that, then hit a button, bringing up a display of an AT-AT. "This is an Imperial All-Terrain Armored-Transport, or AT-AT, capable of carrying two smaller AT-STs, or five speeder bikes, along with 40 troops. Aside from their carrying capacity, the AT-AT is also armed with two medium laser cannons on the cheeks, and two heavy laser cannons on its chin."

"Deploying those might not rest well with the civilians still in Tokyo-3," Nabiki pointed out.

General Hongo nodded. "Because of that, we've decided to bring them down in the middle of the night, and deploy them in a modified storage position, which would leave their legs withdrawn to appear more like an odd building," the General responded, a spinning image of the AT-AT in the described position showing off it's appearance amidst the plants and trees in the outlying areas.

"While we have 40 AT-AT's aboard currently, a look over the potential threat an invading army has to offer leads me to believe that deploying all of them would be wasteful; as such, I've designated the following locations as intended deployment areas, the green-capped points indicating a Speeder-bike load out, and the yellow-capped points indicating AT-STs.

"What is an AT-ST?" Misato asked.

A new figure appeared over the map, the two-legged walker from Return of the Jedi appearing in all its clanking-splendor. Thankfully, the trees in Tokyo-3 weren't redwoods.

"The AT-ST is an All-Terrain Scout-Transport. It is a two-man scout vehicle intended for areas an AT-AT would have trouble reaching, but too dangerous for a lone stormtrooper. It has two chin-mounted medium laser cannons, as well as a blaster cannon on its left, and a concussion grenade launcher on the right."

"That looks somewhat precarious," Misato stated bluntly. General Hongo, however, took it in stride, nodding at the Major's comment.

"On uneven, shifting terrain, there is a high likelihood the Transport could become unbalanced and topple. However, much like your Eva Units, the use of legs over wheels and treads enables the machine to traverse more terrain with less chance of failure."

Misato nodded at that, and the display changed to Tokyo-3 itself. A large number of the retracting buildings glowed red as the General spoke up next.

"These buildings are actually disguised storage depots for your Evangelion's weapons. While I don't want to leave your Units unarmed, I propose clearing the indicated buildings out, and using them, instead, to house a number of AT-PTs, All-Terrain Personal-Transport."

"They come in singular-size, too?" Fuyutsuki asked, clearly surprised.

"The AT-PT is designed for Infantry Support. Its twin blaster cannons and concussion grenade launcher are effective against armies, but relatively underpowered against armored vehicles. Here, the weapons might destroy a tank, but for the most part, I suggest leaving the AT-PTs to assist troops against troops, and call in the AT-STs or AT-ATs for tanks."

Fuyutsuki nodded, but Ritsuko leaned forward, "can you stack your units? Or can we leave some of the weapons on the higher racks?"

High General Hongo grinned at Ritsuko's question, apparently having anticipated it. "While I've left room for some of the weapons, with a little modification, Admiral Yuuki and I have come up with a suggestion to cut down on the potential wait in case we're attacked by more than just ground units."

"Oh?" Misato asked, looking slightly more interested. While she'd clearly enjoyed flying a TIE-Defender, she hadn't exactly done superb in the fighter, and had expressed interest in watching a pro take one out.

"Some of your weapons dimensions are similar enough that with a slight change to the racks, we can mount a squadron of TIE craft here on the surface with the ability to launch almost immediately."

"Those ships you were practicing in?" Ritsuko asked, turning to Misato. Misato just grinned and nodded, watching the four craft being displayed above the table.

"The Admiral should be arriving in a moment to handle any questions about the capabilities of the TIE series of ships, but while we wait, I'll just point out that our plans include the deployment of a mix of Bomber and Defender class TIEs within these indicated buildings-" the little markers popped up, "-to give us adequate air coverage while the Thunder can launch more to send down at any time."

Misato nodded, as did Ritsuko, but Fuyutsuki spoke up next, waving at the map with a frown, "there's very little AT-ST coverage here. If the AT-PTs can't neutralize some of the larger tanks SEELE has at their disposal, any that get past those stored within the AT-ATs will be free to carve a swathe through our ranks."

The General nodded as the map changed to show a myriad of tunnels below Tokyo-3, all leaving from one area below.

"The Launch tubes" Misato said, recognizing the system immediately.

"While your launchers would currently destroy any AT-ST we tried to launch, a slight drop in supplied power, and a change in the brace-system would allow you to fill the Eva Bay with AT-STs, and continually feed them to any area they were needed."

"Clever," Ritsuko stated, smirking. Then her smirk faded, "SEELE's got to have people in Tokyo-3, if not Nerv itself. How will we be able to cover all these forces up?"

General Hongo shrugged, and brought up an Image of an AT-AT Barge, just as Fleet Admiral Yuuki entered, a set of paper packets in her hand.

"The AT-AT Barges aboard will drop off the AT-STs onto the Elevators, which can lowered while the barge is in place, keeping the transfer secret. Likewise, the buildings chosen to house the AT-PT and TIE forces can be hidden from view with the bulk of the barge so entry is visible only to people within a narrow viewing angle. If you need to, we can deploy stormtroopers to police the area and keep potential spies clear of the area."

"That should work," the Doctor muttered, apparently impressed that the General had covered almost everything.

"Admiral Yuuki?" Fuyutsuki asked, drawing the attention of the Admiral, who had been working one of the wall-panels as General Hongo spoke.

"Commander Fuyutsuki," the Admiral said, nodding in his direction before she turned to salute me, "Lord Kyle. I apologize for being late."

I waved it off, pointing at the papers in her hand, "I'm sure you have an excuse, and if not, SHODAN will take care of it. What's that?"

The Admiral nodded at my response, before holding out the papers for me to inspect. When I realized what they were, I smiled and nodded at the Admiral, who turned to Rei.

"While I wish the other Trainees were here as well; Trainee Ayanami, Front-and-center!"

Rei, apparently surprised to be called upon at all (though she'd been extremely attentive during the entire briefing), jumped to her feet, before making her way over to the Admiral, and standing at attention before her.

"After consulting with your Trainer, and carefully reviewing recordings of your training itself, I hereby grant you permission to pilot the following craft under a probationary license: TIE-Fighter, TIE-Bomber, TIE-Interceptor, DIE-Defender, and Tyderium-class Shuttle. With this license, you're also given the simulated rank of Lieutenant in the Imperial Navy, with a position saved for you to take at any time, should you chose to seek a commission and join the Navy fulltime."

Rei actually blushed a little as she took the packet and returned the Admiral's salute, and it deepened as Makoto and I started clapping, Ritsuko, Fuyutsuki and Misato joining in a moment later.

When Rei had taken her seat again, a somewhat surprised expression on her face, the Admiral rounded the table and took up a position beside General Hongo, her expression serious.

"As the General as already explained, a combined squadron of Defender and Bomber-class TIE's will be spread throughout the Tokyo-3 area to provide moderate air coverage of the area.

"And what, exactly, is a TIE-Defender?" Fuyutsuki asked. Misato had also trained on one, and Ritsuko had probably gone over the design specifications as she tore a pair apart to upgrade Unit 04, but the Nerv Commander was apparently unaware.

"A TIE-Defender is... well, actually, Lieutenant Ayanami, why don't you show us how well your studies have come," the Admiral said, shifting everyone's attention to Rei once more.

"The TIE-Defender is a space-superiority fighter designed to combat the threat of Rebel X-, B-, and A-class craft. One of the few shielded TIE- designs, the Defender is the fastest star fighter fielded by the Empire, and faster than anything the Rebels have yet employed. Only using its SCRAM Engines can an Imperial Missile Gunboat travel faster, but with limited maneuverability and at the cost of its weapon systems." Rei glanced at the Admiral, who nodded encouragingly at the Eva Pilot.

"The TIE-Defender has four laser cannons spread along its wingtips, as well as two ion cannons, and a pair of variable-warhead missile launchers giving it unmatched offensive capabilities, in addition to its already unmatched defensive systems.

"Very good, Lieutenant," the Admiral said, earning a slight glare from Fuyutsuki. The Admiral ignored it, however, as she turned to Misato, "Major, would you like to explain the capabilities of the Bomber?"

While I knew Rei had spent more time in the Thunder's Flight Training room than the other pilots combined, I was surprised that Misato was being asked to explain the Bombers, when she'd been trained on the Defender. Of course, she _had_ been assigned as Rei's wingman in multiple drills; it was likely she had learned what she could about her wingman's capabilities.

"The TIE Bomber is a slower, less agile starship designed for hitting larger, slower targets and relying upon fighter cover for defense, though each has a single forward-firing laser cannon in addition to its 40 weapon payload. It also has a more powerful sensor suite than standard fighters to assist in targeting an area saturated with jamming, and thicker armor to compensate for a lack of shields and speed," Misato explained.

Admiral Yuuki nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but Misato cut her off with a less technical fact. "Given the technology likely to be used against us, despite the Bomber's lack of shielding, I think we'll still have an advantage over UN-issued Hovercraft and whatever fighters might be employed."

The Admiral nodded, and Misato glanced at the stack of licenses she'd brought in before asking bluntly, "is one of those for me?"

"Major," Fuyutsuki growled, though Ritsuko tried to hide a smile.

"Unfortunately, Major, I was overruled," the Admiral said, earning her a questioning look from Major Katsuragi.

Before she could ask, however, General Hongo spoke up, "I've laid claim to your services, actually. While I'm not able to offer you as much as was offered to the young _Sim-tenant_," she smiled, but there was no malice in it as she gave Rei a friendly wink (which the girl didn't respond to), "if you chose to leave your current employer, I can almost guarantee you a position on my staff after you've gone through the basic training all Imperials are subjected to." As she finished speaking, the General slid the packet she'd received from Admiral Yuuki across the table to Misato, who slapped a hand down on it with a smile.

"Sub-Commander, are you trying to steal away all my employees?" Fuyutsuki asked with a frown.

I shrugged, "honestly? Yeah. But we're not accepting anyone until the threat of Third Impact is over. I'd rather not have a bowl of orange jello as a recruit."

Makoto elbowed me for that, and I winced, before turning to Fuyutsuki and meeting his gaze, "I'm not trying to undermine your authority, nor do I mean any disrespect; I fully intend to offer you a position aboard as well, considering your abilities in both management and elsewhere. The pilots and Misato, however, have earned their wings, and these two," I said, indicating the Fleet Admiral and High General, "have expressed their interest in them as potential recruits."

"I... I understand," He replied after a moment, nodding.

"Great. Think it over, see this through.. when you have an answer, tell me at your leisure. Until then," my light tone turned serious, "is this deployment plan acceptable?"

"Aside from the lack of troops, I have no objections," Misato offered, to which Ritsuko mumbled an agreement. Fuyutsuki nodded at the Major, then turned a questioning gaze on the General.

"A schedule of the standard troop deployment patterns within Nerv has been modified, and will soon be implemented with both Nerv guards and Stormtroopers throughout Nerv Headquarters. In the city proper, your Section 2 will be buffered with our Special Forces and Intelligence unit, to keep suspicion down. Good enough?"

"I'd like to look over the schedules before their implementation," Fuyutsuki stated.

General Hongo nodded, "Fair enough. I am staying here to oversee the deployment process, and Admiral Yuuki will be accompanying you back to Nerv to deliver the other licenses and oversee the modifications to the storage buildings, if that's alright with you, my Lord."

I nodded, "works for me. Who's in charge of the ground forces from down here?"

"I trust Major Katsuragi enough to handle things for the time being. Unless I'm sorely mistaken, I doubt she'll disappoint me if things heat up unexpectedly."

"Gracious of you," Fuyutsuki uttered, apparently surprised at the trust the General had in the Major.

"The Major's test scores and psych evaluation given before she was allowed in the flight simulator speak for themselves. Few academy graduates are able to command their forces with such efficiency."

"I thought those tests were a little too two-dimensional," Misato said, earning a snort from Ritsuko. Admiral Yuuki quirked a brow at that, but remained silent.

"Well, there's one more task here before heading back down," Ritsuko said, heading towards the door slowly.

"Oh?" Fuyutsuki asked, curious.

"Aida. I want to debrief him, before he starts to forget anything about what happened," Ritsuko stated, having explained her reasoning to me earlier.

"Misato, you should go too, so there's a familiar face there, and Makoto, cover for me. I'll head down to oversee the deployment while Misato is busy," I explained, glancing at the General, who nodded.

"I could go down," Fuyutsuki offered, but I shook my head.

"You and Dr. Akagi are both Doctors, capable of understanding what he says better than anyone aboard this ship. I'd rather you be there to assist than me be there to passively listen."

"And me?" Makoto asked, frowning.

"Just in case the slight discrepancy in the blood work was a worst-case scenario," I answered, evenly.

"Nice to see you trust me," she replied with a smirk.

"More than anyone else," I said with a smile, as I started to fade out.

The Admiral appeared beside me a moment later, and I nodded to her, before heading down the hallway we'd materialized in towards the meeting room from earlier. Unless we were very late, the Children would probably still be inside. Rei, who had teleported down with us, turned and headed in the opposite direction, the ID Card from Admiral Yuuki clipped to her shirt like a badge.

Making our way deeper, I smirked at the sound of laughter and conversation ahead, glad the food idea had panned out. Hopefully, after the disastrous attack yesterday, this would help bolster morale while we replaced the lost facilities and manpower.

Of course, it was during that thought that the Angel alert went off, the screen on the wall across from the door flickering to life to display Zeruel, already within the city limits of Tokyo-3, moments before its eyes flashed, and the screen went to static.

------

Well, I guess I'm on a roll or something. I typed this up in the free time I had between postign the last chapter and... well.. now, so here's to hoping I get the next few chapters up and done. Thanks go to Parker, the only one crazy enough to be awake at the hours I work to pre-read. At least for this time. Up next, the battle with Zeruel, and a shocking happenstance!


	10. Chapter 10

While Unit 04 was normally stored up on the _Thunder_, for the time being, we'd decided (wisely, in retrospect) that with Zeruel's point of origin unknown, we'd be best off keeping the modified Eva down at Nerv. As such, instead of running to the surface to be teleported up and then ride the barge back down, I simply made myself to my rarely-used locker, splashed myself as I passed the sink, before I slipped into my plug suit, idly wondering about its design, and whether or not the designer ever had to try their creation on.

"I thought _I_ was supposed to do this," Asuka growled as I stepped onto the platform that gave the pilots access to their Entry Plugs. Her glare grew even larger as Shinji and Rei arrived a moment later.

I turned and frowned at her, one leg already inside my Entry Plug. "You got a problem with a little assistance? Not that you really need to know, but your original fight with this one cost Unit 02 its arms and head. If, however, you'd prefer to go it alone…" I trailed off, leaning against the railing like I didn't have a care in the world.

The redhead scowled at me, "fine, but stay out of my way," she said, before disappearing into her Plug.

"Only because you asked so nicely," I muttered, climbing inside my own.

As the startup procedures commenced, I glanced at the numerous technicians bustling around outside, then opened a channel to the bridge of Nerv, "when we're up and running, we should evacuate. If it comes down to a fight in the geofront, I don't want to lose any more people."

Fuyutsuki nodded, while Misato started issuing deployment orders, "Shinji, you're on standby incase it manages to reach us here. Rei, you're deploying to the geofront in case it gets past Asuka and the Sub-Commander. Asuka, we're going to launch you as close as we can, and start running the program. Is your IV in place?"

"IV?" I asked, as I wondered briefly why there was no seatbelt in an Eva.

"It's the only way for us to induce the berserker. It's a soup of adrenaline, dopamine precursors, some short-lived psychotropics, and a couple other chemicals that should help with the process," Ritsuko chimed in, voice-only.

"Right," I mumbled, a moment before Asuka and I were launched to the surface. Tokyo-3 was a mess. Without the replacement radar coverage from the ship being built, the Angel had made it to the city before any warning could be raised. It had taken only a couple minutes to destroy most of the few Angel-defense weapon emplacements remaining within the city before it started its attack on the armor plates that made up the surface of the geofront. As I surveyed the skyline briefly, I sighed softly to myself and made a mental note to have the General take this new damage into consideration.

Zeruel, apparently unconcerned with the two Eva Units that had emerged, continued its assault, the Angel's eyes flashing moments before deceptively powerful explosions ripped into the armor. "How do they taper off like that?" I asked, watching the purple-and-white explosion plume skyward before branching off into a cross that only slowly faded away.

"Who cares?" Asuka said, pulling a pallet rifle from the building beside her and opening fire. The yellow rounds ate the distance between the two figures in the blink of an eye, before they exploded against the Angel's tough hide, no AT-Field visible. It ignored her initial assault, and after emptying an entire magazine into its backside, Asuka cursed in German before pulling a much larger weapon and letting loose with a missile only a touch larger than an AMRAAM. Unlike the ignored pallet bursts, Zeruel's AT-Field burst into existence, the missile having no visible effect as it exploded harmlessly against it.

Zeruel, interrupted in the middle of making an opening large enough to pass into the Geofront through, stopped the assault on the armor, which wasn't going anywhere, and turned, the empty eye-sockets flashing once before the area surrounding Asuka exploded, sending Unit 02 flying.

"Well, that was intelligent," I mumbled, before I fired off a couple blasts from my wrist lasers, all of which impacted the Angel's AT-Field without any visible effect.

"That's a VERY strong AT-Field," Ritsuko mumbled, as Unit 02 flopped to the ground beside me.

"Asuka! Are you alright?" Misato asked, the concern evident in her voice and expression.

"Stupid, piece of crap-" the redhead mumbled as the Red Eva crawled to its feet.

Before her grumbling could get too descriptive, I cut it off, "nothing hurt but her pride." Turning to the chat window I smirked at Asuka, "Well, princess, you got its attention, why don't we show it who owns these streets."

"Shut up," she snapped, rolling her eyes at me as she picked up the discarded missile-launcher and let loose another before rolling away, down an avenue that would bring her in closer to Zeruel. When she got close enough to reach out and slap the thing, she paused, leaning over a moment before her shoulder armor split, revealing a row of holes that launched a number of oversized spikes at the approaching Angel.

The AT-Field flickered into existence, but the spikes, shot from such a close proximity, tore through the field, and after a second of staring, I realized Asuka had managed to neutralize the field. The spikes impacted, sinking in to the leathery-looking exterior, but aside from a couple droplets of ichor, there was no real indication of incapacitating damage. Still, credit where credit is due, I thought, muttering a simple "nice" before a second burst showed the hostile AT-Field back in place.

"It brought it back that fast?" I hear Misato ask.

"No, the Scheißekopf dropped it," Asuka muttered, as she leapt back as another explosion tore apart the ground she'd just been assaulting it from.

"So it took the hit," I stated, before toggling the targeting computer. "Stay back a sec," I said, before I let loose with a concussion missile.

"Not within the city!" Fuyutsuki shouted, a moment before the missile exploded, the warhead inside designed to batter down shields and shake apart large starships. A number of nearby buildings collapsed, and I could see glass shards glittering as they fell from windows half a mile away. After the echoes of the blast subsided, I decided I should probably avoid doing that again unless I really needed to.

"Watch out!" Misato warned, as Zeruel's rather pathetic-looking torso-nubs sprouted arm-like protrusions which unfolded downward much further than arms had any right to do so. Moments later the paper-thin appendages reared up like snakes before shooting forward in an attempt to maim Unit 04.

Before it could hit me, however, I brought forth my own AT-Field, angled so that if would hopefully deflect the incoming weapon. When the arm impacted, the AT-Field actually rang out as it jarred the appendage off course, moments before it withdrew, and began to accelerate towards me again.

"Run out of tricks already?" I asked, as the weapon was deflected a second time. As the other arm shot towards me, I scowled, before I realized a moment too late that the Angel's eyes were glowing.

"Ohshit," I muttered, trying to dive away from the ground I was standing on a moment before it exploded upward. The blast threw Unit 04 further than my leap had meant to take me and an instant before hitting the ground I activated the repulsorlifts, coming to a hovering stop mere meters above the frightened faces of a couple of civilians running to the shelters nearby.

"Damn, this thing gave us no warning," I spat, as I reoriented myself and sped back, thinking on how the delayed Angel alert meant we were probably risking lives with every step we took. Rounding a surprisingly tall skyscraper that turned out to be only 2 of its once four walls, I spotted Asuka in Unit 02 doing her best to avoid the razor-like weapons Zeruel kept launching at her.

"You know, this thing isn't _quite_ as bad as I thought it'd be," I muttered. As if it had heard me, the Angel glanced at me, its entire torso twisting, and suddenly the world outside disappeared in a flash, as the LCL around me transmitted to me a shockingly powerful compression wave, and my inner ear totally gave up trying to keep track of which direction up was.

I shouted something incoherent as warning panels indicated quite a few pieces of armor were shattered, and, had I been paying more attention, I'd have probably noticed a worrisome number weren't just broken, they'd been vaporized in the blast. As the world outside began to resolve itself out of the brilliant white occupying the screens, I realized Unit 04 was laying face down in a small lake in one of Tokyo-3s many parks.

"Look out!" Makoto shrieked, and I turned to look over at the Angel and Asuka just in time to see the Angel's eyes flash, Zeruel looking right at me as Asuka tried to fend off its arms. Again the world exploded into light around me.

"FUCK!" I shouted, as the Entry Plug spun around me, throwing me out of the seat. More warning lights were flashing now, and I hissed in pain as my head made contact with a sharp corner of metal, a moment before there was another flash, and the spinning accelerated again, tossing me back over the chair and down where the Dummy Plug System normally went. Since I'd pretty much destroyed the system, there was a gaping hole there, inside which I found myself crammed. With a wince, I held on to an exposed cross-beam, my left arm burning with either a fracture or a complete break as the spinning LCL tore at my hair and threatened to yank me from the corner I'd wedged myself in.

A loss of sensation gave me pause, and after a disorienting, twist-filled moment, I spotted my A-10 nerve clips sliding away across the floor, a moment before the screens around me flashed again, and I was suddenly wrenched hard to the right, my shoulder popping painfully as I kept a death grip on the metal bar I imagined I could feel bending under the stress, and on the other side of the huge chair, I heard a couple heavy 'thunk's as something big tore loose and began tumbling as well.

A second later there was a loud bang, and suddenly it felt like the whole world was pressing against me, cramming me further into my makeshift hidey-hole, before a final jarring impact shook me free and left the Entry Plug spinning around me before coming to a stop. While it was spinning, however, part of the chair had caught me in the side of the head, and even after the plug stopped rolling and the LCL stopped violently swirling around me, I still felt like I was swimming in stormy seas. It took a minute or two for that to clear before I bothered opening my eyes, realizing belatedly that I couldn't remember shutting them.

"whatthefuckjusthappened," I mumbled, pulling myself back towards the seat. A quick glance showed me that all data from the Eva was nonexistent, and a flashing red light indicated the transponder was happily alerting anyone who cared to know just where my entry plug had landed. Someone had ejected the plug. That, at least, explained the final rolling.

Some of the screens were broken, and the LCL, I realized with a frown, was suddenly beginning to taste funny. Dark tendrils of blood coming from a wound I couldn't see weaved their way through the fluid, and I had to concentrate for a moment before orienting myself to the new layout, as the targeting computer and part of the radar system was on the far side of the Plug, stripped bolts as big as my thumb reaching off towards their missing anchors like dead, silvery fingers.

Turning to the controls for the LCL-tank, I scowled at the Red light indicating a system error before blowing the hatch, the explosive bolts launching the chunk of steel away from the plug, and the LCL poured out onto the grass of the field I'd landed in, sucking me out the opening, and onto the moist ground where I groaned as I coughed up the remaining LCL in my lungs.

Crawling slowly to my feet, I winced at the pain in my right leg, but it didn't shift when I applied weight, so it was likely just a nasty bruise. The area around me lit up as an explosion behind me went off, and I spun, wincing again as my leg protested the movement, just in time to watch Unit 02 crash to the ground, its head wrapped inside the arms of the Angel as it was lifted from the new crater that had formed and slammed back into it, sending up clouds of dust. A moment later, Unit 02 was tossed in my direction, and just as I worried about whether or not I had the concentration to summon an AT-Field strong enough to keep it from squashing me flat, the world faded away, replaced with the Bridge of the _Thunder._ As I realized I was safe from flying bulkheads, broken glass, and falling Evangelions, my grip on consciousness fled, and I sank to the floor.

Waking up in an infirmary is never fun, and as I thought back to why I might find myself in one, I winced as the memories of being inside an Entry Plug caught in what felt like a category five tornado came rushing back.

Of course, at that moment Makoto and Nabiki came rushing in, the heavy metal doors barely getting out of Makoto's way as she barreled across the room to envelop me in a bone-crushing hug. I held back a yelp as multiple bruises protested at the sudden pressure, before feebly returning the hug.

"I was so worried when you stopped responding, don't you ever do that to me again!" she cried, unwilling to let me go. Considering how bad it felt from inside, I couldn't really blame her. From their point of view, it must have looked fairly nasty, if the bandages I was wearing had anything to say about it.

"You gave us quite a scare," Nabiki said, smiling at me, though she looked a little rough around the edges as well.

"You shoulda seen the other guy," I quipped, smirking back at her. When she didn't respond, my smile faltered, then fell away as Makoto squeezed me tighter again. "We did win, didn't we?" I asked, worried. If Zeruel had reached Central Dogma and started Third Impact while I was asleep…

"We won, in the sense that the Fourteenth was destroyed," Nabiki stated, totally serious.

"'But…'" I prompted, knowing I wasn't going to like what they were going to say. When no answer was forthcoming, and I felt cool tears beginning to soak my shirt, I sighed in resigned defeat. "Who'd we lose?" I asked, looking down at the sheets covering me.

"I think," Nabiki said after a moment of silence, "that we should head down for the debriefing. It's hard-"

"Who. Died." I growled, unhappy with the world right now. I didn't feel like playing the waiting game.

"Asuka," Makoto whispered, looking up at me with a trail of tears marching down her face, "we lost Asuka."

"Asuka," I said softly, somewhat surprised. Though I had assumed it was a pilot, I wouldn't have guessed the Redhead would have lost. Then I realized she had said "lost" and not that the Pilot had died.

"Lost inside Unit 02? Because we might be able to-" I started, before Nabiki shook her head and motioned to a set of clothes hung on a rack nearby.

"We have to get to the briefing, and avoid your doctors... You need to know… But we have to go now," she said, and I finally realized both Makoto and Nabiki were really dressed up, and I began to fear that maybe it was worse than I had thought.

Nodding wordlessly, I quickly changed in the corner of the room. Pulling on the shirts with Makoto's help because one arm was stuck in a sling, and a moment later, SHODAN transported us down to NERV, where we slowly made our way to the oversized meeting room.

As the doors shut, I looked around the table at the people present, all of whom seemed to be doing the same. I was wearing the blue-on-black outfit I preferred to wear when annoyed at the world, the dark cloth pressed and adorned by some well-meaning Tailor aboard the _Thunder_ at some point so that it looked almost like a uniform. With almost everyone present dressed officially, I was glad for the modifications, and swept my gaze over the others as I sat down in one of the chairs that had apparently been reserved for me.

To my immediate right was Makoto, who held my hand tightly. She was wearing a green dress uniform and absently spun her henshin stick in her fingers as we waited to begin.

To her right sat Nabiki, dressed in her Imperial Intelligence Ubiqtorate uniform. The red tunic was a far cry from the casual t-shirts and jeans she typically wore around Nerv and the _Thunder_.

Next was Fuyutsuki, his Nerv uniform similar to Nabiki's, though the insignia and cut was different enough to notice after a glance.

Beside him sat Major Katsuragi, her uniform surprisingly well-pressed, though her eyes were red and puffy, indicating she'd had a rough night. Unsure how I should feel about that, I turned to look at Kaji, who's chair was moved right next to hers' as he gently patted her back. Surprised to see him back down on the ground, I shrugged it off, hoping to get an explanation during the briefing, before moving on to the next person.

After Kaji came Dr. Akagi, who -as always -was wearing her white lab coat over a blue dress shirt that looked hastily thrown on.

Lieutenant Ibuki was standing to her right, a cart loaded with folders and even a couple datapads occupying her attention as she pulled papers from various locations seemingly at random. Next to her was Lieutenant Aoba, looking dour as usual, and beside him sat Hyuuga, who was fidgeting restlessly as we continued to wait.

The three bridge crewmembers were wearing their usual uniforms, but unlike the pristine tan and whites they normally sported, the three looked like they'd been coated in dust, and a second, closer look revealed red eyes on all three as well as the Doctor, indicating a probable all-nighter. Thinking back to one of the detours we'd taken to get here, I wondered if that dust was more than just a night of hard work in a forgotten corner of the facility.

Finally, Shinji and Rei sat side-by side, as far away from everyone else as they could, and I suppressed a wince as I contemplated the implications there. If they were upset, I might very well have to wipe away a portion of Japan to resolve the conflicts, which would not endear me to anyone seated at the table. Like the doctor and me, the two pilots weren't wearing official uniforms, both instead opting to wear their school cloths, though even Rei's typically pressed dress looked a little crumpled.

"Now that we're all here, I suppose we ought to begin with the basics," Fuyutsuki intoned, drawing everyone's attention. When nobody spoke, he nodded once, before continuing, "yesterday morning, at approximately 1130, the Fourteenth Angel, Zeruel, appeared on Nerv's damaged Radar screen, and proceeded to assault Tokyo-3 with the intention of instigating Third Impact."

The large screens around the room showed some of the initial attack, Zeruel's explosive blasts laying waste to multiple weapon emplacements, much as I remembered. Finally, Units 02 and 04 emerged, and begun to attack.

"Unit's 02 and 04 closed in to sortie, while Unit 00 stayed in the Geofront to delay if the initial attack failed, and Unit 01 stayed within headquarters to serve as backup," the old man said, as the screens changed to display the deployed units in the damaged city, 00 waiting in a grassy field of the Geofront, and 01 still in its cage, waiting to be moved to a lift for deployment.

"The initial plan was to instigate a berserker state in Unit 02, which I'll let Dr. Akagi detail."

"While the details are rather technical, suffice it to say that the plan was plausible on paper, but proved harder to implement under the circumstances of the battle. Unit 02's pilot was having difficulty holding her concentration at a level capable of accepting the state, and Unit 02 was surprisingly unresponsive to some of the commands sent to it from here," the doctor explained. The Screens showed a mess of charts, finally stopping on a pair of squiggling lines that moved rapidly, like a seismometer.

"As you can see, the top line, representing Unit 02, rarely reached an impulse state consecutively with the pilot. The dips indicate the few instances it did, but note that only one of them corresponds with a rise in Asuka's mental state to the point of intersection."

"What does it mean," Misato growled, earning a glare from the Doctor before she continued, "only when the two lines overlap could we have performed the operation. The one time we got a chance, Unit 04 was being destroyed, and even the Magi had shifted its priorities to monitoring the Sub-Commander's status. I regret to say we all missed that window."

"Not that I'm ungrateful, but why would the Magi care about me, more than the mission?" I asked with a frown I hate to think it was my fault, and as the Doctor spoke, I realized with a cringe that, in a way, it had been.

"One of your first decisions after revising our plans was to place a priority on the lives of our Pilots. The Magi interpret that to mean you, as well."

"You make that sound like your accusing him of the failure!" Makoto spat at the doctor.

Ritsuko took it in stride, shaking her head as she elaborated, "the decision was made by almost everyone here, yourself included, if you recall. SHODAN helped me carry out the changes to the code, so I'd also have to accept responsibility."

"Getting back on track," Fuyutsuki interrupted, drawing everyone's attention, "how is Unit 04?" The question that would have earned the majority of my interest if I hadn't been busy staring at the screen as Zeruel brutally thrashed the Green-and-black-armored Evangelion, the cameras switching angles as dust clouds obscured the destruction, before finally a piece of armor exploded away, and a white object shot free, arcing across the sky before falling to the ground and rolling across a field in a nearby park.

When I realized the room was staring at me, I shook my head to drive the images as far from my mind as I could, "I'm sorry. What?"

"Unit 04 is heavily damaged. Because we're down parts, we've had to salvage what we could, and only with some of the medical technology you brought down did we manage to save the removed limb. I think you, the Pilot, should describe the fight from your viewpoint before I continue," Dr. Akagi repeated, looking at me.

"Yeah, I underestimated Zeruel's ability to attack in quick succession, or multiple targets at once. Until it began bouncing me around, the Angel had only shown the ability to do one thing at a time, with a relatively noticeable pause between each successive attack. The blast that hit me took me by surprise, and once I was hit, I couldn't do much more than hold on for my life," I explained.

A second later, the screen shifted to display the inside of my entry plug, which began shaking as it recorded me getting tossed out of the seat and into a console, then the shaking worsened, and the me on-screen screamed while the plug spun around her. Having experienced it all, I sighed at the video's inability to convey the confusion and disorientation of being flung around inside the Plug.

"As you can see, the Pilot was torn from his chair and incapable of doing much more than hold on and stay conscious before and after the ejection command had been issued," Ritsuko said as the playback continued. I winced as I watched the plug itself jolt hard, and pieces of equipment weighing a good hundred pounds or more were wrenched free from their mounts and flew off in seemingly random directions. Finally, Ritsuko nodded to herself as the screen showed me apparently spinning in the center of the plug as it rolled across the field after shooting away from the falling Eva at speed.

"Following the loss of Unit 04, Unit 02 was ordered to stand down, as 04's progressive knife, in a regrettable _accident_," she stressed this while staring directly at me, and I nodded, "fell, severing Unit 02's Umbilical cord," Dr. Akagi explained, as the screen showed the free-falling blade as it managed to sever most of the cord.

"Ah, fuck," I mumbled, as Makoto's squeezed my hand reassuringly.

"After the hostile actions of Unit 02 ceased, the Fourteenth renewed its assault on Nerv, blowing an opening into the Geofront, where it engaged Rei in Unit 00." As the Doctor continued, I tuned her out, watching the video taken after I'd collapsed and listening to the recordings of everyone's voices as the battle continued rolling.

"Zeruel is about to descend into the Geofront. Now that Units 02 and 04 are incapacitated, it has resumed its forced-entry, and is now lowering itself to the Geofront floor," SHODAN explained, the camera angle switching to one within the Geofront, where Zeruel dropped through the final layer of protective armor to be greeted with a missile to the face.

Below, Rei had a handful of weapons laid out around her, all within easy reach as she tossed the oversized missile-launcher away and picked up another weapon just a little too late. The missile's blast had been massive, but as the smoke and flame cleared, the familiar orange concentric hexagons were visible between Rei and the Angel, the protective screen absorbing all the power the missile had to offer.

"AT-Field has barely budged," Lieutenant Ibuki stated.

"Worry about Unit 02, not the fight!" Misato spat, a moment before Zeruel's arms shot forth. Like I had, Rei brought up her AT-Field, but instead of positioning it at an angle, she set it up perpendicular to the incoming arm's path. The arm rebounded off the Field, withdrawing for a moment before both arms sped forward together.

Unit 00's AT-Field held for a moment, before tearing, the visible Field shattering into nothingness as the arms rushed the Evangelion, which tried to dive aside at the last moment.

"Rei!" Misato shouted, as on of Unit 00's arms went flying in the opposite direction of the unit itself. Over the communications channel I heard the normally quiet girl scream, a moment before she clamped down on it, and straightened Unit 00 up to fight again.

Unfortunately, Zeruel had moved in, and by the time Rei was aware, those damnable arms were coming in again, and Rei didn't have time to do much of anything before the Blue unit was impaled through the stomach, the thin weapon emerging from Unit 00's back coated in the Eva's blood. The two stayed that way for a moment, before the Angel withdrew its weapon, sending Unit 00 limply tumbling to the ground.

"Cut the Nerve Link!" Misato shouted, as Zeruel raised its weapon-arms with obvious intent. A moment later, 00's signal went silent, and the Angel turned towards the Pyramid housing HQ as the decapitated form of Unit 00 lay beaten under the faux-sun of the geofront.

I winced as onscreen, a section of the structure exploded, and with another flash of its hollow eyes, a second explosion tore away multiple layers of the facility, exposing corridors leading off into darkness and twisting catwalks and ducts that the cameras had trouble picking up through the dust. A third explosion widened the hole considerably, and a forth occurred so deep within the facility that the only thing the camera was able to pick up was the rain of debris launched out into the lake Zeruel currently hovered over.

"Makoto? Katsuragi? Somebody talk to me," Nabiki growled, hearing the crashes and cries coming through the speakers from the bridge of Nerv. Apparently, she'd been watching everything like I was, from the video pickups, after I'd collapsed.

"Oh, god," I heard Ritsuko mumbled, as the Angel moved towards the opening it had made for itself. Suddenly, a purple figure shot out of the hole, tackling Zeruel before rearing back and delivering a powerful punch that sent the thing's upper torso deeper into the ground. Through the dust, I could just make out the multiple-tiered-layout of the Operational bridge of Nerv, an Eva-sized hole in the wall separating it from the outside indicating how close everyone in Nerv had come to being blown away.

"Get out of there; I have to get it to the lifts through the bridge!" Shinji shouted, Driving Unit 01's knee into the Angel once more before kicking free of the Angel and tossing Zeruel towards Nerv.

"How did you-" Misato started.

"No time!" Shinji said, cutting the Major off, "I don't have much power left!"

I nodded at the brush-off; the cordless Unit 01 onscreen going all out meant it had under a minute left of full operational power. A moment later both Unit 01 and the Angel had disappeared back into the hole Zeruel had blown into HQ, and I heard Shinji shout out "Katsuragi!"

Frowning at the usage of her last name, I watched as a separate display indicated one of the lifts had taken off, diverted to emerge somewhere near Asuka's Unit 02.

"Asuka! Listen to me, Misato… Misato lied to us… she… we're… Unit 02 is your mom," he finally said, ending as Eva and Angel emerged from the ground. Unlike a properly restrained Evangelion, the two were launched an additional 100 or so feet into the air before coming down hard, thankfully on a building that had already been destroyed earlier.

"Oh, crap," I whispered, as the recording continued. I suddenly began to understand everyone's haggard looks.

"I-" Asuka started, but Ritsuko interrupted her, "Asuka, now is not the time, you have to concentrate!"

"I can't! I just... is Shinji right?" She asked, sounding much more like the 14-year-old she was.

"It's not important right now," Misato shouted, sounding both worried and really pissed off. I frowned and shot the Major a glance, recognizing the look on her tear-streaked face as one of understanding. She'd just blown it with Asuka with that line, and as the recording continued, it proved damnably true.

"I didn't ask you, bitch!" Asuka snarled, harshly enough to make even the people who'd heard it occur live wince at the venom apparent in her voice.

"Asuka; Shinji is correct," A new voice said, one I didn't immediately recognize. The Pilot of Unit 02, however, _did_.

"Kaji? But… why? Why didn't she- Why didn't you-_ anybody_ tell me?" Asuka whispered, barely audible over the sounds of Unit 01 still trying to keep away from Zeruel's weapons. Tearing my gaze from the monitors to pin Kaji with a glance, he nodded towards Nabiki, who waved at me low over the table to indicate that it had been taken care of. Diverting my attention back to the screen, I watched as one of the few surviving cameras in Nerv picked up Misato's dust-covered form looking torn as she spoke.

"I knew… I thought… that you two didn't need to know," Misato replied in a voice barely as loud as Asuka's had been.

There was silence, punctuated only by the sounds of Shinji fighting, before Asuka said something too quiet for anyone to hear.

"Asuka?" Misato said, quietly.

"I hate you." Asuka said, in a voice dead of all emotion.

"Asuka!" Shinji shouted, drawing everyone's attention as Unit 01 came to a screeching halt. Warning whistles and that inevitably dreaded tone that indicated a dead battery reverberated around the meeting room as the speakers played back the final moments of Unit 01's activity, before all attention was diverted back to the pilot of Unit 02 when she spoke again.

"I hate you," the redhead said again, this time sounding surer of herself.

"Oh shit," I heard Ritsuko mumble, moments before Unit 02's eyes flared to life. Lieutenant Ibuki started to shout something, but camera showed Dr. Akagi wave her to silence with a glare, as Asuka continued.

"I hate Misato," the Second Children said as her EVA crawled to its feet, "for lying to me."

"I hate Kaji," she continued, pulling her progressive knife from a building it had gotten lodged into, "for abandoning me."

Turning to look at the Angel, who was currently slamming Unit 01 into the ground much like it had done with Asuka earlier, "I hate Shinji for never giving me…" She trailed off, before taking off at a sprint that literally tore up the ground beneath her.

"But most of all: I," she leaped, Progressive Knife held before her, "_hate_," with a crunch, she landed, the AT-Field of the Angel flaring, a moment before it was brutally torn away by the outstretched knife and Unit 02's counter-AT-Field, "_MY LIFE_!" She screamed, as Unit 02 finally reared back and let loose a clawed fist that tore into Zeruel's tough body like it was tissue paper.

"JUST DIE! I WANT YOU TO DIE!" she screeched, as she tore a chunk of the Angel free and flung it away before reaching in for more.

"Just die! I want you to die," she stated factually, as one of the Angel's arms shot towards Unit 02's head. Without even seeming to consciously acknowledge it, she backhanded the appendage, the limb turning black before falling free of the Angel and dissolving into nothingness in a matter of seconds.

"justdie, Iwantyoutodie," she repeated, softly, as she pulled free the bone-like mask that made up Zeruel's face and crushed it in her fist, before tossing it away like the other pieces she'd torn free.

"Just die… I want… to die," she whispered, the radio barely picking it up as she reached out and stroked the Angel's exposed core once, almost lovingly, before grasping it firmly and tearing it free.

"Momma," she said softly, clutching the deceased Angel's core to her chest as if it were the most precious thing in the world. "I'm so sorry, momma."

Unit 02 slowed its movements, and one arm fell slowly to its side a moment before the other followed, the blood red core falling to the ground with a dull thud as the Red Eva hunched forward, like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Goodbye, everyone," Asuka whispered, before all signs from her Entry plug died.

------

Yeah, that was tough to write. After I finsished the initial version, I had to go for a walk. Hopefully it's as emotional for you readers as it was for me to write. I hadn't really intended to do this originally, but then, stories have a way of growing in new directions as you write. Or they do for me, in any case.

Thanks to Parker for some last minute modifications that I definately needed to make, and to Nate for taking some heavy bounces when I threw ideas out him.

This chapter was short, but I couldn't really write more without feeling like I was trying to gloss over that ending... as such, I'll obviously be finishing off the debriefing next chapter, and we'll see what kind of ramifications everything that happened has had or is going to have on Nerv. Hopefully, I can punch out the next chapter by Wednesday, at the latest.


	11. Chapter 11

I definitely understood now what Nabiki meant by needing to wait to find out. Even after watching that, I doubted I could have described it in any way that would make sense to someone who wasn't able to witness it firsthand. The recording, however, wasn't quite finished, and it continued to playback the events that had transpired after Asuka's absorption.

"Asuka?" Shinji called out, his unit still frozen after its loss of power. "Asuka?" he repeated a little louder, voice trembling.

"She's been absorbed," Ritsuko said quietly over the radio.

"What does that mean!?" I heard Misato shout, almost a wail.

"Her Synch Rate spiked at 400 during that fight... This... this is what we were trying to avoid," the Doctor said, sounding almost pissed as she said that last part.

"How soon can we begin the recovery attempt," Fuyutsuki asked.

"It won't work," Shinji mumbled, his voice cracking.

"But... we can't be-" Misato tried to say, but the Third cut her off.

"SHE'S GONE!"

"We can't give up," Lieutenant Ibuki cried, though her voice sounded like she knew any attempt was doomed from the start.

"Asuka... is with her mother," Shinji said, slowly, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hands before turning to look at the camera. "Asuka is gone, and we have nothing here she would want to come back to," he stated with finality.

The monitors froze, the screens split into four to show exterior shots of all four Evangelion Units, 00 and 04 severely damaged and 01 and 02 frozen in place but relatively complete.

"As we all can see, events quickly spiraled out of control from our intended plans, culminating in the situation we find ourselves in, now," Fuyutsuki said, though the way he was watching me told me he meant more or less to fill me in up to where everyone else was, currently.

"Well," I stated, my mouth somewhat dry, "that's not exactly everything," I said, looking at Kaji before turning to Nabiki for an explanation.

The middle Tendo recognized my look, as she started explaining almost immediately. "After Mr. Ryoji here was implicated, I had him brought to me. SHODAN and all sensors here indicate the transmission sent during the fight did _not_ originate from the Thunder. Kaji was implicated for a crime he didn't commit."

I glanced at Kaji once more, before nodding to him, then turning towards the screens, studying the damage surrounding each unit. Kaji, however, seemed to frown to himself, before looking at Shinji thoughtfully. "So, Shinji... mind telling me how you found out for certain the identity of the soul contained in Units 01 and 02?"

He looked back at me for a minute before answering, his expression racing from one extreme to another, before finally, he quietly asked, instead, "why didn't you tell me?"

I did my best to suppress the cringe I felt trying to come out; that was one question I didn't really want to answer.

Before I could say anything, though, Misato spoke up. "I'm sorry, Shinji."

"Why?" he asked again, now fixing her with his gaze.

"Because," she started, sinking into her chair as if the weight of the world was pressing down on her. The weight of _her_ world, I realized, probably was. Quite harshly. "We... had originally planned to tell you, but..."

"You didn't think we could handle it," he stated, plainly.

Misato, unable to even meet his gaze anymore, merely nodded.

There was a tense silence for a moment as Shinji seemed to digest this, before he finally nodded to himself, as if making up his mind. "I understand."

Misato looked about as shocked as the rest of us, before he turned to look at Fuyutsuki, "Commander, I don't think I can work here anymore." He punctuated this by tossing his Nerv ID down on the table, the spinning plastic card sliding to a stop in the middle with everyone's attention on it.

"But... but why? I thought you understood!?" Lieutenant Ibuki asked, finally.

"Trust."

The one word drew everyone's attention, and Rei didn't show any emotion as everyone's stares fell on her.

Shinji, however, nodded, before turning to me. "Kyle, sir... I'm not sure if I'll see you again after this... but I..." he trailed off, uncomfortable with the attention, but in his eyes, behind the resignation and anger, I could sense the gratitude.

I nodded, "I know what you're trying to say. I understand. But don't leave just yet. I don't know if Rei told you, but I have some papers around here somewhere for you, and a couple other questions for you, after we're done here."

He nodded, giving everyone a sketchy bow, before walking towards the door.

"Shinji!"

Everyone turned to look at Kaji, who was holding a silently crying Misato.

"Yes?" he asked, formally, clearly wanting to leave the room.

"Before you go, I have to know; how did you find out?"

"Oh," he frowned in thought for a second, before replying, "I found the papers detailing what originally happened, the summaries and everything. It took me a little while to understand all the English, but..." he shrugged. Everyone in the room looked around at each other at that, and I frowned, not wanting to waste time guessing.

"Where'd you find them?"

Shinji blinked, clearly surprised. "In my locker, where you put them."

"Oh my god," Nabiki said, just as I realized what this meant.

"What?" Misato shouted, glaring at me with red-eyes.

I ignored her, turning to look at the camera in the corner, "SHODAN, lock us down. Nobody leaves the Geofront without my permission. I want a full squad covering every exit to the complex, and every entrance and exit to Tokyo-3. I want a shuttle, no, I want shuttles of scanning crews down here _yesterday_, and I want a complete list of all vehicular traffic in or out of the city since the alert was lifted," I spat, everyone suddenly talking at once.

"You can't do that!" Ibuki said, earning a glare from Nabiki.

"What's going on?" Shinji asked.

"This is going to turn real ugly, real fast," Dr. Akagi pointed out, to which I shrugged.

"They're on their way," the AI stated, as everyone digested the implications of Shinji's statement.

Turning to look at the confused kid, I sighed, "Shinji, I didn't put those papers there. Someone... probably the same someone who sounded like Kaji and confirmed what you said during the battle, planted those there for you to find. Someone set... well, both Kaji and I up."

"But... why?"

"Because they are the most likely to do something like this," Fuyutsuki said, gaining everyone's attention.

"What do you mean?" Makoto asked, unconsciously squeezing my hand as she glared at the commander of Nerv.

"Kaji is, or was, really, a triple agent, working for SEELE, Nerv, and the Japanese Government. He's admitted to it, and has since been scarce around here, as you already know. Your husband, however, is a recent addition to the roster, and new to this world entirely. Everyone here knows and has known each other longer than we've known you, so they were hoping our trust in you wasn't as strong as the trust we all had for each other."

"But, why would somebody do that?" Shinji asked, confused.

"SEELE... well, you read the papers. Like we said before, they want Third Impact to happen. What Misato did..." I trailed off, glancing at the Major, who nodded back at me silently, as before staring at the table.

I took a breath, "We knew what Misato had done... but we only found out right before the briefing yest- the day before yesterday. Her reason for not telling you was the same as SEELE's for telling you: the thought that you or Asuka might hold back knowing that your Eva held your Mother's soul inside."

"All units in place. Shuttles descending now," SHODAN said in the intervening silence.

"I... I don't..." Shinji looked grief stricken, before whispering, "this is all my fault?"

Makoto pulled her hand from mine and moved around the table, kneeling before him so that they were eye-to eye. She grabbed his shoulders, "Shinji, look at me. Look at me! This was _not_ your fault. Kyle and I- Nabiki too, we're all younger than the others here, and we were almost fooled too."

"So you're saying I'm just stupid?" He asked, sounding even less thrilled.

"No!" Makoto said, loud enough to make him flinch. "No," she repeated, quieter, sighing to herself, before continuing, "you're not stupid, and you're not to blame. What you did... what you did was brave. Maybe a little foolish, but you did what you felt was right, am I correct?"

Shinji stared at her, then nodded slowly.

Makoto nodded back, once, before continuing, "Right. While a lot of grown-ups will deal with doing things they find..." She paused, looking for an appropriate word, I guess, before: "distasteful, you're not an adult. And none of us here expect you to be. You did what you felt was right in your heart, and I know, I _know_, that even though some of us might not like it, nobody thinks it was the wrong choice."

Shinji stared at her for almost a full minute, not blinking, a wet trail down his face where tears had run their course, until finally, he nodded once.

"Now we just have to find the bastard that set us up to fail," Nabiki said, darkly.

"I hate to be the one to point this out," Aoba said, earning everyone's attention, "but shouldn't we maybe consider the possibility that there is more than one mole here?'

Fuyutsuki shook his head, "no, an operation like this, it's too risky to send in more than one, simply because if one is caught, the whole game is up. They can't be that certain they can move in and out unmolested."

"I'll do more than molest them if I catch them," Misato spat, darkly. Everyone smiled at that, before a loud bang drew everyone's attention to Dr. Akagi.

"Son of a bitch!"

I was about to ask her to elaborate, when she looked up, at the monitor as her fingers flashed over the keyboard before her. The screen changed to show recordings of the blown up facilities on the outskirts of Tokyo-3.

"The recall," Hyuuga said, softly.

Doctor Akagi nodded, her lips a thin line on her grim face. "We recalled all our staff from the destroyed facilities. There could be hundreds of imposters pretending to be the people who died in the attacks."

"But, with the records, we'd catch on-" Ibuki started.

"How soon, though?" Nabiki interrupted. "How long does a family take before asking us for their benefits? And then how long would it take that request to go through the system enough times from multiple families before we caught on that something was wrong?"

Fuyutsuki, a scowl adorning his features, turned to look at me, "your lockdown request might not have been so bad an idea, after all."

I sighed, "tell me that after we're sure every booby-trap, recording device... oh, god," I said, realizing as I said it that everything we were saying could have been recorded, warning whoever might be listening what we intended."

"I suggest we move locations immediately," Fuyutsuki said, catching on as quickly as I did.

"What about me?" Shinji asked, Makoto standing beside him with one hand on his shoulder.

"You come too. Rei as well. If... Well, lets get there before I bother explaining," I said, wrapping an arm around Rei and guiding her towards Shinji, as the others moved to surround the Children as we stepped out into Nerv's hallways.

"Kyle, all camera feeds to your area have been cut, and someone's manually rerou-" SHODAN's voice cut off with an electronic squeal, a moment before the lights died, the brightly-lit green and white corridors suddenly bathed in the blood-red emergency lights lining the halls.

"I hate being right," Shigeru said, as we began moving towards the elevators.

"Wait, can we trust these," Nabiki said, as we approached the doors. Everyone looked at each other in the dim light, before turning towards the staircase at the end of the hall.

A moment later, there was a bang from behind is as something metallic hit the floor, and suddenly the air was filled with bullets as someone stuck their arm out of the air vents and began firing a Nerv-issue MP5 wildly in our direction. Everyone hit the deck, and I saw Misato put her body between the shooter and Shinji while Nabiki and I did the same with Rei.

"This is a fine time to be unarmed," I growled, waiting to feel a bullet pierce my skin. After what felt like forever, but was only a second or two, the firing stopped as the shooters magazine ran dry.

"Move!" Nabiki shouted, jumping to her feet and helping Rei up, as everyone tried to get up and run. There was a clattering from behind us, and I realized with utter certainty that the shooter had just thrown a grenade.

"Oh," I heard someone whisper, obviously understanding what the sound meant, as well.

There was an unholy bang as the weapon exploded, and after a moment in which I expected to feel myself being torn to shreds, I opened my eyes to see Rei, staring back behind us with one arm extended. Spinning, I saw the fading concentric hexagons of an AT-Field as she let it go, and realized with certainty that we'd just narrowly avoided death.

"Good job," I said, louder than I intended as I let go of the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding to say it. A moment later the fire suppression system came on, and I grinned as the tell-tale shifting took place, my clothes loosening in some places and tightening in others as the Jusenkyo curse took effect.

"Is everyone alright?" Dr Akagi asked, as the realization that we hadn't died sunk in.

Everyone chimed in after a moment of checking. Almost everyone, I realized, as Kaji appeared to be leaning on Misato, one hand pressed to his side that looked like it was coated in black paint under the red emergency lights.

"Kaji!" Misato said, drawing everyone's attention as she saw the same thing I did. Dr Akagi moved forward to examine it, before turning to look at Fuyutsuki, "we have to get him to a medical center immediately."

"Makoto, you should carry him," Nabiki said, moving forward to catch him as his legs gave out.

"Me?" Both Makoto's said, before looking at each other.

"Jupiter," Nabiki growled, earning a puzzled look from Makoto Hyuuga, and a nod of realization from my Makoto, a moment before she shouted, "Jupiter Star Power, Make-up!"

After a lightshow that left a majority of the group blinded, Nabiki, who had known better and looked away, said "let's go," as she handed off the wounded Inspector.

Sailor Jupiter took Kaji gently, before moving ahead, flanked by Rei and Doctor Akagi, while I moved back to the rear, my wings emerging as I saw a figure moving in the darkness beyond the haze from the recently-exploded grenade.

"We've got company! Move!" I shouted, summoning an AT-Field as the figures opened fire. The tracers were visible as they flattened themselves on the Field, but the other bullets were invisible in the dark hall, the only indication the attackers were not shooting semiautomatics loaded with tracers being the sound of the bullets clattering to the floor.

Ritsuko kicked the door to the stairs in frustration when her card failed to elicit any response whatsoever from the reader nearby, and I winced as another grenade exploded off my AT-Field, the bang drowning out all sounds for a moment before the ringing in my ears died down enough to hear Jupiter hand off Kaji before kicking the door herself, the sheet of steel flying from its electronic hinges to impact with the far wall before falling away into the stairway below.

A scream as it disappeared into darkness was the only indication we had that there were people in the stairs, a moment before a ricochet nearly took Dr. Akagi out, her hair jumping as a bullet passed through it. She yelped and jumped back, a moment before Rei's AT-Field popped up, catching a string of bullets and deflecting them away from the stairway as they ascended out of sight.

Running up the switch-back staircase, I held my AT-Field up as long as I could, feeling drained as I realized I'd never really used it continuously before. Just as I was about to let everyone know it was about to fail, Dr. Akagi called out, "There's light!"

Turning to look, I saw up the foot-wide gap between staircases that there was indeed, a light at the end of the tunnel. "Thank god," I muttered, as another tracer bounced off my AT-Field.

Suddenly, from above, a red bolt of energy shot past me, disappearing into the darkness below.

"Hold your fire!" Nabiki shouted, pushing past the bridge techs with Sailor Jupiter.

When the Stormtroopers spotted them, they froze before snapping to attention crisply and saluting.

Nabiki stepped aside as Jupiter, carrying Kaji, brushed by, a warning apparently going out that she was coming through, as she disappeared onto the floor they'd apparently emerged from without contest. The others followed swiftly, while Nabiki remained, talking quietly to the trooper, who nodded, before pressing his hand to the side of his helmet and apparently issuing orders.

"Fill them in?" I asked, as she followed me into the hallway, where a squad of troopers lined the walls, E-11 Blaster Rifles held ready as they began filing into the staircase.

"Glad you made it back," SHODAN quipped, as we approached the elevator.

"Makoto took Kaji, Rei, and Shinji up," Fuyutsuki explained, as the Bridge techs and Dr. Akagi stared at the second squad of troopers currently surrounding our party with weapons drawn.

A trooper wearing a shoulder pauldron approached, the semi-circle around us parting to let him through. "We've isolated the areas without power, and have cut off all known escape routes. Lady Jupiter and the pilots have been teleported aboard the _Thunder_ and the elevator is on its way back down. Your orders?"

I considered telling him to bring back survivors, but a glance at Dr. Akagi's blood-soaked hands brought a scowl to my face.

"Wipe them out. All of them." I intoned darkly, a small part of me enjoying the quote, while the rest of me hoped the troopers failed to deliver the killing shot until after the first one... or twenty.

The Stormtrooper nodded, talking quietly into his suit-comm for a second before stepping back, saluting, and taking off towards the stairwell, where the rest of the troopers were moving in, the sound of blasters echoing from within.

At that moment, the elevator chimed, causing a few people to jump, then the doors rumbled open to admit more passengers.

"Doctor, you should go. See to Kaji, I'll catch the last one out," I said, nodding to Ritsuko who was absently wringing part of her lab coat in her hands.

"You aren't scared?" Ibuki asked, looking between the elevator and me. I shook my head, "I have faith in my men," I said, a couple Stormtroopers nearby straightening up a little with pride. I saw Nabiki smirk out of the corner of my eye, and I nodded at her, then the elevator. She smiled and slipped inside.

"I wish that I could say the same, at this time... The three of you go on up, I'll remain with the Sub-Commander and catch the last one," Fuyutsuki said, with a sigh.

Hyuuga, Aoba, and Ibuki nodded, grateful looks on their face as the stepped inside, a moment before the doors closed.

"Exciting day," I said, conversationally, as I watched the doorway intently. From within the staircase, we could still hear the echoes of gun- and blaster fire, though it was much fainter, obviously having moved out into the hallways from the stairwell.

"I wish I had your enthusiasm, as well," Fuyutsuki said, earning him a frown.

"I'm not exactly thrilled with what's going on, Kozo. I'm young, but not naive; I recognize the troubles this situation presents."

"And your faith in your men?"

"Is unquestionable; if for no other reason than the fact that I have thirty-five-thousand plus to throw at whatever pissant army tries to march on my turf."

Fuyutsuki blinked at that, glancing at the Stormtroopers arrayed around us, and frowning slightly at the apparent disdain for their life I was displaying.

"They're trained to kill, and know the risks," I explained, before frowning, "something even Rei, who was raised here with you all knowing what was to come, was rather unprepared for."

"That was Gendo," he started, and I fixed him with a glare.

"You could have said something, _Professor_, but you chose not to, and things developed as they did, and only by my intervention did we avoid a number of problems that might have arisen."

He frowned at me, "you mean its better that we have lost Pilot Soryu, potentially for good, as opposed to Ikari only temporarily? Or the situation we find ourselves in now?"

I smirked, hiding the bitter feelings his words conjured up, "Despite these setbacks, my arrival has also saved thousands of lives as we avoided the costly mistakes made the first time around. I'll have restless nights thinking about the finish to a fight I was incapacitated in. How do you sleep, knowing you withheld the truth of Second Impact from a world that should have known?"

The old man blanched at that, looking every year his age as I pointed out his failure. Before he could come back, I continued, "I don't understand your obsession with Yui, and I don't really care, either, I've offered my help retrieving her from Unit 01, and I intend to follow through on my word. But question my men, my methods, or my resolve again, and I'll be happy to restore Yui to Shinji out by _Pluto_ while you deal with SEELE's incursion forces."

Not that I'd really abandon everyone, but I was pissed. Yes, part of my anger was at myself and my own failings the old man had oh-so-nicely pointed out, but also at the entire situation, that he had some part in helping set up, even if he helped by doing nothing. He nodded after a minute of thought, apparently accepting my ultimatum at face-value.

The elevator chimed and the doors rolled open, the interior housing three more Stormtroopers, who stood aside for us.

"After you," I said, motioning towards the open doors.

"Ladies first," he smirked, indicating he wasn't too upset with our conversation. I smacked him upside the head with a wing as I turned to get inside.

I paused in the doorway of the elevator as I suddenly saw the army waiting for me. The surface was literally covered with Stormtroopers, at least a thousand standing there in formation, while hundreds more ran in formations from one location to the next, dozens of officers in their grey tunics pausing to salute me before continuing to brief the troopers they were responsible for.

Fuyutsuki and I only had a couple seconds to watch, however, as the scene faded away to be replaced with the Bridge of the _Thunder._

Makoto, still transformed, waited with Nabiki and Captain Archer, who looked relieved to see me.

"Where are the others?" I asked, nodding to the Captain. He returned the nod slowly, obviously wanting to express his gratitude that I was still alive, but unwilling to interrupt our conversation.

"Doctor Akagi is monitoring the operation on Kaji, and Misato is nearby, probably still waving off the doctors until they're finished. Rei and Shinji are in guest suites, a couple sergeants assigned to them as gofers. The bridge crewmembers have been given suites as well, though they're probably too wired to sleep yet."

"If I could," Fuyutsuki said, interrupting for a moment, "I'd suggest having them all get some rest, with or without medical assistance, before we consider discussing what to do next."

I nodded, turning to Captain Archer, "give the order, offer relaxants or sedatives to anyone who wants them." He took off to do so, and I turned back to Fuyutsuki, "You should get some rest too."

"I don't have time to rest. Someone's got to take care of the situation below," he said, shaking his head.

I rolled my eyes at him, "unlike the rest of you, I slept more than enough last night, after the battle. I doubt many of you got any sleep, considering..." I trailed off, and he finally nodded, before I continued, "we're going to need everyone coherent if we're going to have more than a snowball's chance in hell of getting Asuka out of Unit 02. That includes you. Those are my troopers down there; I'll make sure they get things done."

"If you insist," he said, looking back at the door to the bridge for a moment, before turning to head off. Nabiki stepped aside to quietly issue a command to a nearby officer, who nodded once before guiding Fuyutsuki out.

"Alright," I said, plopping down in my chair, "what've we got going on?"

"Two regiments on the surface are scouring Nerv and the geofront for any unauthorized personnel," SHODAN stated. "I'm in touch with all teams, and an on-site DNA scan by the troopers is checking everyone in Nerv against the records on file. All unauthorized personnel are being transported to the brig."

I nodded, turning to look down into one of the trenches before looking back at the holographic map of Tokyo-3.

"Drop a pre-fabricated garrison here," I said, pointing to the field my Entry Plug had landed in. "Send down the barges and collect all four units, I want every scientist and researcher aboard working with Doctor Akagi when she wakes up to get them up to par. If she needs anything from below, send a platoon and get it, even if she asks for the president."

"Understood," The AI stated.

"General Hongo!" I said, getting the blonde's attention and she rushed over, waiting at attention for me to speak.

"Implement your plans immediately. Have Admiral Yuuki keep everything we need to shuffle the units around on standby from here until we jump to the next universe,"

"War?" she asked, after acknowledging the order.

"Close enough," I replied, earning a nod, before she saluted and headed off to issue the commands to begin landing our forces.

"What are we going to do now?" Makoto asked, as I sat in the chair, staring out at the expanse of stars partially dominated by the blue and green sphere of the Earth. Only a portion of the planet was visible, but that was enough, the curvature around which China wrapped to disappear over the horizon apparent from this distance, but not by much. Nerv China was down there, somewhere. As were all the other Nerv branches, each under the control of SEELE's devious machinations.

"Such insignificant things," I muttered, before turning to Captain Archer, who approached with a cup of hot water. Taking it, I thanked him, before asking if we had any Special Forces aboard.

"The Storm Commando teams are, as always, ready to act at your every order, My Lord," he replied.

"Good. Warm up a shuttle and a couple Defenders for escort service."

"Where are you sending them?" Nabiki asked.

"Nerv-Germany. I want the facility neutralized,' I replied, coldly.

"But..." Makoto started, before going quiet. Finally, "that won't bring anyone back," she said softly.

I nodded, "I'm not doing this for petty revenge; not totally. They have parts and replacements Dr Akagi can use to repair our Evas... and disrupting them means interfering with whatever plans SEELE might have. They have to pay to make things work; I can get away with stealing, since I'm not economically bound like the nations of this Earth."

"You're also doing this to kick the old men, and rub salt in the wound when you abscond with their expensive toys," a new voice said from behind my chair.

"Wha-" I said, standing up. There, standing in the doorway, were the Trio, Kei Mei and Nei, each smirking at me as I tried to tell them apart.

"You know I hate it when you do that," I said, after a moment. They laughed politely, before saluting, and I finally realized they were all wearing Captain's Uniforms.

"It's here?" I asked, realizing what their being here meant.

"It's finished," they replied, still smiling slightly.

"Ooh, I bet Admiral Yuuki will like that news," Nabiki said, earning a nod from one of the three.

"Okay, before this continues, who's who?" I asked.

The three pulled off their hats, and I smirked as I recognized what they had done almost at once. Nei's hair had grown out, and was cut to match Nabiki's, while Kei and Mei had long hair, Kei's similar to my cursed-forms, and Mei smiled as she pulled a band out of her pocket and pulled her hair up into a ponytail like Makoto's.

"Much easier. Don't bother with the hats," I said, before rolling my eyes as Mei handed Nei a ten.

"So, where's your ride?" I asked, turning to look out the transparisteel in case I'd missed it amongst the stars. Of course, part of my excitement was due to the fact that, as the one in charge of this fleet, it was a whole new toy for me to play with.

"The newly completed Star Destroyer is a Modified Imperial Star Destroyer Mark II, designed to act both autonomously, and as a part of this fleet. Its multitude of systems have been partially automated and optimized to make up for its minimal crew, and as per her Captain's orders, the bridge has been modified somewhat to accommodate potential recruits," SHODAN stated.

"Modified bri- ohmygod," Nabiki said, before laughing. Turning around, I noticed the Holographic display was now showing a Star Destroyer, though its signature bridge was missing, the 'T'-shaped structure replaced with- "It's Nerv HQ!"

Indeed, sitting atop the superstructure was a pyramid of Durasteel, its sleek edges glistening in the starlight as the view rotated. While it was somewhat bizarre-looking at first glance, the merger between the two structures was streamlined, and Turbolaser emplacements were visible in strategic indentations, meaning it wasn't sticking out just waiting to be shot off.

"I take it the command bridge is a recreation of the tiered bridge below?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Down to the very centimeter," Mei replied.

"What's inside the Magi casing?"

"Most of a Magi system. SHODAN was unwilling to complete the system without Dr. Akagi to go over the final configuration, since a lot of the system below has been modified to the point that schematics are useless for recreating it."

"Are the personalities programmed in?" Nabiki asked, with a frown.

"Sure are!" Nei beamed, before Mei elaborated.

"We originally considered using ourselves, to back up our decisions as the nominal Captains..." she trailed off, and Kei took over.

"Since we're all sort of copies of you three, we decided to just emulate the source, and designated the three The Fighter, The Lover, and The Thinker."

It didn't take much to figure out which personality was a reflection of whom. Makoto scowled when she did, though. "The Lover?"

Mei stepped forward and waved her hand dismissively, "don't get so upset. Nabiki tends to think of the bottom line, while Kyle looks at the big picture. We provide the mediating voice, detailing the repercussions they tend to overlook or are unable to see," she said.

"Tell me about it," Makoto said with a frown.

I took her hand and gave it a squeeze, "you're selling yourself short, Mako-chan. You handled Shinji down there much better than Nabiki or I could have, even if we did, in a way, see he needed to understand he'd been the victim."

Nabiki chimed in, "he's right," and Makoto smiled softly.

"Any other surprises?" I asked, after a moment.

"One of the hangars has been reconfigured to resemble the Eva bays, complete with a repair tank, room for a Sim-unit, and an Entry Plug retooling system."

"Impressive," Captain Archer said, looking at the schematics that displayed the alterations that had been made."

"What about LCL?" Nabiki asked. All three clones frowned.

"We're still trying to figure out how to handle that one. While the information we've gotten indicates it can be stored for long periods of time without going bad, it requires some sophisticated filtering systems to stay viable during storage. After it's been used, it takes even more specialized equipment to get it usable again," Mei stated.

"You didn't install those?" Makoto asked skeptically.

"The system would have fit, but we were unsure how much we'd need... and how much we'd be able to get. We can build equipment, but LCL is beyond our abilities to make. The WD's don't spit out organic substances, which is what LCL registers as, despite its odd abilities," Nei explained with a frown.

"You couldn't have a WD spit out a tanker?" Nabiki asked.

"There were no viable tanker plans in my files," SHODAN replied.

"We could always just steal one," I mused, earning a questioning look from everyone. "You know, a tanker. Like the Exxon Valdez or something."

"I wouldn't recommend that, the trace amounts of oil would contaminate the LCL, and I doubt you want to expose your lungs to raw crude, even in trace amounts," SHODAN said.

"Well have one of the droids spit one out," Nabiki said, sounding somewhat exasperated. "It's not like you can't steal the plans for one. Add a couple more plates of armor, some thrusters and a shield generator, and you've got a short-term Tanker that can be used to transport fluids through space."

"That…" Nei started.

"That's acceptable," SHODAN said, earning a nod from Nabiki.

"Anything else?" I asked, watching Makoto yawn. A moment later, Nabiki did, too.

"We still have to worry about Asuka," Makoto said. I nodded, and she turned to head off the bridge, Nabiki following.

"Where are you two going?" I asked, as the doors opened.

"Unlike you, we didn't get a chance to sleep last night. We were kind of busy watching you," Nabiki explained, before the door shut.

"Oh," I replied, staring at the shut door and wondering what to do next. "Now what?" I muttered to myself, plopping back down into my chair. When I didn't get a response, I sighed and stared out at the globe, and contemplated the upcoming changes I'd set in motion.

------

Okay, so the ending's a bit sudden, but really, this is the best place I could find to end. Otherwise I'd still be writing, and, well, I had this done, so why not post it? If any parts felt a little off, I should let you know I felt some parts were forced; I had to get them in there, but nothing I tried seemed to fit just right, so I had to settle for merely acceptable at some points. Hopefully the final few chapters will make up for any dull moments I might have forced upon you all, since it's probably somewhat apparent I prefer writing action over waxign poetically about how beautiful a sunset is. Even though they are kinda nice to look at.

Anyway, thanks to Nate and Parker, who's shotgun pre-reading caught some errors I'd have been mortified to push to publish without rectifying. Lifesavers, to be sure. And I supopse, as a hint as to what's next, well... aside from the attempt to retrieve Asuka, I've got stormtroopers to organize, and Arael to confront, followed by Armisael, Tabris/Kaworu, and then, who knows? I do.. but I'm not telling.


	12. Chapter 12

As the door closed behind Nabiki and Makoto, I turned to look at the trio.

"So, you three intend to have some of the NERV staff working with you aboard the new ship?"

Kei nodded, "We've worked out a ranking system that would mostly echo what you established here."

I nodded, "that would make sense, though I take it you three are at the top of the pyramid, as opposed to Fuyutsuki?"

Nei grinned, "We wouldn't be able to call ourselves captains if we'd screwed up at something as simple as basic command structure."

"I suppose," I muttered, glancing out at the newly completed Star Destroyer. "Have you three come up with a name, or did you leave that to me?" I asked with a slight smirk.

"That's kind of obvious, isn't it?" Mei asked, quirking a brow at me, before Nei continued, "It's _The Nerve._"

"How... expected," I replied sardonically. I met Kei's eye, and we shared a slight smirk, knowing that she'd probably come up with the name, since it sounded a lot like something I would have thought up, if I hadn't been thinking too much about the events earlier in the day.

"Staffing issues aside, we're prepared to help turn your command from a ship into a fleet," Nei stated, after a moment's silence.

"Staffing issues?" I queried.

"Well, we intend to transfer over enough to make a skeleton crew, and the automation issue helps to keep that down, but in the end, we're going to be short-staffed quite a bit, even if we manage to recruit enough NERV-personnel to fill up the bridge."

I nodded, turning to look at the fully-staffed trenches running alongside the command walkway for a moment before glancing out the window at the under crewed Destroyer again. "Try not to take too many of my crew," I said, "I'm not the type to fill gaps with conscripts, like the original Empire."

The trio nodded, a moment before SHODAN spoke up: "General Hongo has called to discuss deployment modifications."

I frowned, turning towards the camera, "Teleport her up, and we'll discuss it over the map."

A moment later the General appeared, saluting before I ushered her over to the map.

"So, what's on your mind general?" I asked, the trio slipping away.

The rest of the afternoon was spent making modifications to deployment plans, following the massive destruction Zeruel wrought upon Tokyo-3, as well as overseeing the preliminary stages of disaster recovery.

While the staff of NERV, Makoto and Nabiki, and even the trio slept into the night, I did my best to coordinate efforts between what NERV forces were working below, my own Imperial Forces. By the time I stumbled off towards bed, most of the preliminary plans had been finalized and implemented, and the sun was a mere hour away from rising.

Collapsing into bed, Makoto started but didn't wake, and a moment later, I slipped under the covers joined her in slumber.

The next day started with a headache, and it got progressively worse from there.

"What do you mean you don't want to attempt retrieval?"

"I'm not sure I approve of these modifications to your troop deployment."

"We've been cut off from the rest of Japan; isolated."

"I could always shoot one of you."

The room grew silent as everyone stared at me after I had spoken my threat. Smirking, I nodded, "great, that solves that problem. Let's tackle this list from the top. Fuyutsuki, your issue?"

"Your modifications to the deployment leave NERV relatively under-represented both in the surrounding countryside, and within Tokyo-3 itself. While I understand your caution after the last couple of incidents, I think your plans are going to have a negative effect on both the morale of NERV's staff, as well as the people of Tokyo-3 who are still unaccustomed to your Stormtroopers."

"The deployment plan we agreed upon did not take into account some of the large holes in coverage Zeruel's assault created. While I considered patching the plans with NERV personnel, the presence required would have short staffed the number of guards within Headquarters itself." Fuyutsuki opened his mouth to object, but I spoke up again, cutting him off, "Furthermore, the position of these coverage changes coincide with Zeruel's path fairly obviously. If something were to take that same path, instead of facing a number of lasers and heavy armor, they would be facing off against contemporary forces. An ideal attack corridor, if you know what I mean."

"You couldn't have tried shuffling them around, or intermixing them?" Misato asked, "You've been fairly committed to showing cooperation and partnership before."

"That was before Rei saved me from a NERV-issue Grenade with her AT-Field," I stated, flatly. Misato didn't have a reply to that, and turned her gaze back to the papers before her.

"Anything else, Commander?" I asked Fuyutsuki.

He sighed, and shook his head, "No, nothing more at this time."

"Dr. Akagi, you're up," I said, glancing over at Nabiki, who had been indicating I save Misato (who looked like she was about to object) for last.

"After getting some preliminary reports of a military blockade around Tokyo-3 earlier, we've since been utterly isolated from the rest of Japan. What little radio intercepts NERV has received has been inconsequential, so it's safe to assume we're under a communications blackout. Also, power to Tokyo-3 has begun to dry up as the multiple inlets from external sources are shut off or destroyed."

"So Tokyo-3's going to lose power?" Shinji asked.

"At the current rate of cutoff? Yes. However, Lieutenant Commander Cantrell and I have begun plans to deploy portable power generators that can supply the city with enough electricity to run. The Disparity between power Requirements for our society and Imperial-Level Society is so large that even with all the power we use within NERV HQ, a few portable generators should maintain adequate coverage for the city."

"I sense a 'but' coming," Nabiki stated.

The Doctor nodded, "Yes. The Generators are bulky, fragile, and designed for emergency use, not front-line deployment. While a bullet might not penetrate its housing, they're extremely susceptible to RPGs, Cannon-fire, and Explosives. If- no, _when-_ SEELE realizes we've got power, they will be one of the most obvious targets for further sabotage."

Makoto spoke up, "Then that solves two problems. Once the new security measures are in place, have the NERV staff that checks out okay stand guard for those, and let them know what failure means. Being assigned to guard an important target like that would help bolster morale, and if they're positioned correctly, can supplement Imperial Forces."

I blinked, then leaned over to whisper in her ear "channeling your inner Nabiki?" She shot me a glare, which dissolved into a smile, and I returned it briefly, before turning to Fuyutsuki, "that sound okay to you?"

He nodded, "for the time being." I sighed, knowing I'd probably hear about it again, but at least he was willing to let it go for now.

"Next up: Major Katsuragi." I intoned.

Misato shot Ritsuko glare, before turning to me, "Dr. Akagi has decided not to go through with the recovery operation to retrieve the Second Children."

"I never said I wouldn't!" Dr. Akagi shot back with a glare.

"That's certainly what it sounded like to me!" Katsuragi shot back.

Before Ritsuko could respond, Fuyutsuki barked, "Enough!" The two quieted down, and he turned to the Doctor, "Would you care to elaborate?"

"Despite what the Major may think, I have every intention of going through with the Operation if ordered."

"'If ordered?'" Nabiki asked with a scowl.

Dr. Akagi nodded, "If." She turned to look at Commander Fuyutsuki, "As Shinji stated near the climax of the last battle, and from both the notes Kyle brought to us, as well as data collected during the fight, it's fairly obvious this self-imposed imprisonment was a voluntary action on Asuka's part."

"So?" Misato snapped, though the look on her face indicated she at least had some understanding of what the Doctor meant.

Ritsuko frowned, slouching somewhat in her chair as she spoke, "The paperwork given to us indicates that in the instance of Shinji's absorption, it was not a fully voluntary act. But even then, retrieval failed, and only the _willingness_ of Shinji's soul to return -with help from Yui Ikari's soul- enabled his reintegration."

Misato nodded, and Dr. Akagi continued, "This, however, is not the same. It was voluntary, Asuka's final statement pretty much told us all how she felt about us, and therefore, I see little reason to attempt retrieval when it's fairly obvious it would fail spectacularly."

"But we don't know that!" Makoto said, to which Misato nodded.

"The procedures for this have gone unchanged since they were originally drawn up when Yui was first lost to Unit One. Any changes made prior to Kyle's arrival were most likely attempted in the original timeline, because Shinji was vital to Gendo's scenario. And since your arrival," she said, glancing at me, "I've not drawn up any rational changes to the procedure. So I can all but guarantee that if we tried now, we'd fail, _and_ whatever chance we had to retrieve her would be utterly lost."

"So what do you suggest?" Nabiki asked, as everyone digested that fact.

"Put Unit-02 in storage, and install a small circulator to keep the current LCL inside from going bad. Then we just have to wait until Asuka decides- _on her own_- to rejoin us."

"But... wouldn't' she need help?" Shinji asked.

"What do you mean?" Aoba asked; his first comment since arriving. Actually, all three Bridge Technicians, while looking freshly showered, had a sort of defeatist expression.

"Well, you said before that I... or the other me... needed assistance from my mom to come back. The paper I saw mentioned that Asuka's mom's soul was fragmented... could she help, like that?"

Dr. Akagi nodded, "not as well as a complete soul could, no, but somewhat. And if Asuka decides to return, there will probably be minor but noticeable signs of it from Unit 02 before it happens. I've already drawn up some sensor requirements that will be trained on Unit-02 around the clock. When she decides to emerge, we'll be ready to assist... and while our procedures for recovery are doomed to fail, I have begun planning how to assist."

"Assist?" Misato snorted, earning a glare from most of the people present.

"Yes, assist. Previous attempts to forcibly retrieve a pilot have ended in total failure. It's a safe assumption that thinking we could do it manually was flawed. Instead of using heavy-handed tactics, we're going to try something less forceful, and hopefully less catastrophic."

"Assisted childbirth, as opposed to abortion," Fuyutsuki stated, to which the doctor nodded.

"Exactly."

"So what else is there to discuss?" Nabiki asked after a moment of silence.

"I hate to bring this up now, but with all that's gone on, and the sudden blackout from the rest of Japan, I'm afraid it can't wait any longer," Fuyutsuki announced wearily.

"Civilian Morale?" I hazarded; a guess.

"Worse... Budget."

My face hit the table with a groan.

The next hour was spent painstakingly going over reports sent up by the Magi, and allocating a fraction of my mountainous pile of gold towards an interim-banking system that all of Tokyo-3's citizens could use.

Dr. Akagi then pointed out that resources like food and other consumables were no longer being shipped in, and another half hour was wasted discussing it, before I told SHODAN to look into it and ship down whatever was running low.

Finally, almost two hours after starting, everyone filed out of the room. We'd received word that the final bits of the deployment were being shuttled down, and most of the NERV staff had opted to return on the last personnel shuttle.

"Commander?"

I turned to look at the person who'd chosen to remain aboard the _Thunder._ Rei had returned, but Shinji had remained, and now peered at me with a questioning look on his face.

"What's up?" I asked, informally. I was too tired to refer to him by his simulated rank, even though the Admiral had presented him with his papers earlier.

"I was wondering what I was supposed to do... sir. Since I've resigned from NERV, I thought I was a part of your crew now."

I frowned, "Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?"

Makoto, who'd been standing behind me, gave me a hard elbow to the ribs as Shinji visibly wilted.

"Sorry," I said, after gasping to replace the forcibly-evacuated air, "That's a line from Star Wars... It was a joke."

"Oh. Sorry," he said, looking down.

"Meh, don't be sorry. It was over your head, I suppose. My fault, really. Umm... as for your assignment..." I trailed off in thought. Sure, he was willing, but at Fourteen, I was fairly certain most forms of training would have been bad. I recalled reading somewhere that hard training before fully maturing was permanently damaging or something like that. Still, I had to at least offer him something to do.

"What do you like to do, Shinji?" Makoto asked, while I debated internally whether or not I should open a Court-Jester position in my staff. It'd be great if he jumped up and slapped annoying guests at random during boring talks about shit I didn't care about.

"Well... I don't... I..." he trailed off, and I winced. Suggesting a Jester's cap and shoes with bells might damage his psyche more than Stormtrooper training would his body.

"You cooked for Misato and Asuka, right?" I asked, wincing slightly at the grimace that flashed across his face when I mentioned the Second.

"Yes, sir." He replied with a nod.

"Did you enjoy that?"

"Somewhat... though part of it was also necessity. The alternative..." He trailed off again, but I understood what he meant. Misato's domestic skills were a conversation topic among the upper-echelons of NERV that even I'd managed to hear about.

"Well, I dunno about the standard cooks here, since a lot of the chow is, I'd imagine, fairly simple, but I have a private Chef, and Makoto likes to cook... I'm sure both of them could find a use for a talented helper from time to time, if you feel up to it." I said with a grin.

"Is... is that my job then?" He asked, then added: "Sir."

"Umm... it can be, if you want to. But it'd be voluntary." I said. He seemed to wilt a little at that, and I sighed. "Look, I think you're looking at this the wrong way. You're probably thinking 'Oh, he doesn't want me around, or in the way, or something like that.' But I'm not."

"You're not?" He asked, looking up at me.

"Shinji, you've saved the World. Multiple times. How many people out there can say they saved billions of lives before getting a Drivers License?"

"But I-"

I cut him off "-But nothing. You're on my ship. You've asked..." I paused, "I assume you're asking for a job, right?" he nodded, and I smirked, continuing, "You want a job aboard my ship? You could ask _for _my ship, with all you've done."

He blinked at that. "I... I could?"

I nodded, "Of course! Not like I'd give it to you. But no harm in asking, right?" I smirked at him, and after a moment of uncertainty, he returned a weak smile, "Right. Seriously, though, as far as I'm concerned you're more or less a permanent VIP aboard this ship, or any other ship in my fleet you visit. You also have access to the Excalibur aboard, and might even be called upon to help with it, since you've been surprisingly attentive when going over technical details."

"But... a VIP?" he asked, almost incredulously.

"To that effect, yes. In the future, I might ask you to help out, or in an emergency, or if I get really bored-" I was elbowed again, but only lightly; a warning, no doubt. "Suffice it to say, you're going to find yourself waiting a long time if you expect orders."

He stared at me for a moment before shaking his head and frowning, "and if I want to just do something? If _I _get really bored?" He asked, and my eyes widened a little at that; he was actually being somewhat confrontational, now.

With a smirk, I nodded, "Then I expect you to do what every other Fourteen Year old boy is supposed to do when bored."

"Start fires?" Makoto asked wryly.

I winced, "Not quite. This is a spaceship..." I turned to look at Shinji, my face becoming as serious as I could make it. "Don't start any fires," I ordered. He nodded.

"Good! Other than that," I relaxed a little, "have fun, explore, ask questions, all the usual things."

"That's it?" he asked, apparently somewhat surprised.

"That's it," I said with a nod.

"Thank you, sir." He said, as I walked away.

I smiled, spinning around and walking backwards as a bowed, "No, Shinji. Thank you." The look of confusion on his face remained as I slipped around a corner and out of sight.

A few days later, I came across him again, the almost expected look of depressive misery on his face as he stared up at the frozen form of Unit 02 from the catwalk.

I'd come by here after taking a tour of _The Nerve_, having gotten a nice show of all its major (and some minor) facilities, as well as the surprising copy of the Tiered Bridge within the Pyramidal addition to the Standard Imperial hull.

The Trio had personally given the tour, the three of them taking turns detailing what each section, department, device, and computer did or controlled, and the few Soldiers (sailors?) we passed Saluted and did their best to look very busy as we went through the Ship, until we'd finished before the entry to the EVA hangar, where the three left me.

Inside, Shinji sat, his back to the door and me as I approached, and it took a minute or two for him to apparently realize I was there.

"Hello, sir," he said, softly, before climbing to his feet. I followed his gaze to the darkened form of Unit 02, its four eyes looking almost glossy behind their transparisteel shielding. While the Armor was now all Imperial material, the armor had been painted and shaped much like before, so at a cursory glance, the big unit looked much like it had before, when it defended Tokyo-3 from invading Angels.

"What... what being done about Asuka," I frowned again. What about Asuka...

"Asuka... is a sensitive subject, I think. And I'm not entirely sure how we're going to go about dealing with that... Aside from Dr. Akagi's 'plan,' there's very little I think any of us can do."

"I... see..." he said, sounding fairly upset.

"Were you asking about Asuka herself, or the situation?" I inquired, wondering if I'd misinterpreted the question.

Shinji sighed, sounding much older than his fourteen years for a moment. "I don't know... both, maybe."

"Hmm... Sounds like you've thought about it a lot already," I said, more prompting than anything else.

"I... I just keep thinking that it was my fault. That this is all because I screwed up," he said, finally, so quiet it was almost a whisper.

I winced, wishing Makoto was here, instead of down in Tokyo-3 today. "I think we covered that already," I replied, shooting him a slight smile.

He glanced at me, but didn't return the grin, only shaking his head. "I know, and I understand what you said, but... I don't know... I still feel responsible. It's stupid, I guess, but I can't help it."

"Well, you're still only human," I supplied. He glanced at me oddly, and I hastened to elaborate, "what I mean is, you're like everyone else who's faced with a difficult truth: you can hear it a million times, but until you accept it, you aren't going to fully believe it."

"But you heard her. Right before..." He trailed off, but I knew what he was referring to.

"Shinji, I don't... It's not my place to comment, I don't think... not on that. Asuka and I didn't get along well, and I regret that now, if only because in the end, even when her whole world turned on her, she came through for us, whether or not she realized it at the time or not. While she may have gone into her exile angry at the world, for everyone who remains, her final act was taking out Zeruel, which saved the world."

"She hated me," he said with finality.

"Shinji, Asuka had a ton of pride... and I've had the misfortune of reading her official history, not just the simple summary I arrived with. What you don't know... is her place to tell you, but I seriously doubt she hated you... or hates you now."

"How can you be so sure?"

I shrugged, "I read the summaries for the last episode?" I smiled, but he glared in return.

"I saw them too. There was nothing about her not hating me in there. In fact, what I did in the Movie..." He looked even worse, and I rolled my eyes.

"Feh. Like that's going to happen now. Thing's have changed. Things are different-"

"But they haven't changed! They're not different! They're worse!" He said loudly, a pained expression on his face.

I sighed, "You think I haven't noticed? No offense, but when I first arrived, I blindly hated you, and everyone else in NERV, Tokyo-3, and this world on General Principal. After discovering that my prejudice might be misplaced, and out of an annoying sense of 'I can do better!' craziness, I managed to mess things up so bad almost a quarter of my stormtroopers are down on the ground to protect a city that originally was still a part of Japan."

"But you tried-"

"Oh, yes, I 'tried' a lot, but look where it got me this time around. Look at where it got Aida. Or Asuka. Awesome job, don't you think?"

"But Aida is okay," Shinji protested.

"Sure, but he still had that traumatic experience. I don't think he's going to be thanking me for that, anytime soon, even if he did originally wish to pilot EVA."

"And Asuka?' he asked, hesitantly.

"Asuka... Her breakdown, both here, and in the original timeline, make me think it was almost inevitable. No offense to her, but both times, it's been self-inflicted... but I failed to stop it, even though I intended to right from the start. I failed her, much like I failed at most everything else here," I stated with finality.

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking over at Unit 02, again. We'd both sat down on the catwalk, now, and I leaned back against the railing behind me, to look at the giant lights suspended above.

"I wanted to offer her an opponent she could verbally bash without causing any problems. I thought... this was before I read her full history, by the way... I thought she just needed an outlet for some pent-up rage. My glance at her character summary gave me the impression that she was just bottling up anger and needed to vent."

"But she didn't... you didn't know," he said, protesting again.

"No, but I could have asked to see the files sooner. Or asked Nabiki, who finally gave me the files after realizing what I was trying to do," I stated.

"So you think you made things worse?" He asked quietly.

"No... I think I made little difference. As far as Asuka was concerned, I was just another annoying authority figure who didn't trust her."

"You didn't trust her?"

"No, I did. Mostly. I wouldn't have trusted her opinion of others, but she was a senior EVA pilot... her thoughts and opinions there were worth a lot more than she thought I viewed them."

"But you argued with her-" he started.

"On the upgrades? That was her Pride talking... Pride in her home country, pride in her Eva... Trust me, German Engineering is great, but god help you if you rely on their electronics." He gave me a confused look, and I waved it off, "What I mean is, that was another opinion of people. The damage to my Unit in the fight with Zeruel was pretty bad, right?" I asked.

"It looked... yeah..." he said, nodding.

"Well, analysis showed later that Unit 04 suffered only an eighth of the damage any of the other units would have with their original equipment. Not to mention my chance of survival was precisely zero in a contemporary unit."

He stared at me in shock, and I shrugged, "We've gotten a little off topic, but... my point is, Shinji... a lot of people tend to think the problems around them are their fault... Whether they are or they aren't, you can't let it stop you from moving on. We all learn from our mistakes."

"So... what should I do?"

I glanced up at Unit 02 again, before pulling myself to my feet, "Well, first off, stop moping here... Asuka is still alive in there, and if she were to appear right now, she'd probably pop you upside the head and send you over the railing."

Shinji grimaced, but I could see a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Encouraged, I continued, "That said, if she can see or hear us, it's got to be pretty dull in this room some of the time. I know coma patients are supposed to be able to hear their visitors... you should come in here and talk to her. Or play your cello for her. Maybe tell her a couple jokes. Who knows... if they're bad enough, maybe she'll come out just to shut you up."

He smiled at that, and I turned to go, "Don't forget that she's human too, Shinji. Asuka can also learn from her mistakes... and move on." I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye as I slipped out the door.

"Nice heart-to-heart," Nei said, popping up behind me as she and her sisters tended to do at the most annoying moments.

"I'm so glad you approve," I muttered darkly, my good mood slightly marred by the start her appearance had given me.

"You know he's applied for a transfer here," She stated, after a moment of silence.

"Yes. The form was forwarded to me, since he doesn't work aboard the _Thunder_ in any official capacity." I replied, thinking back to the form.

"Will you approve it?" She pressed, when it became apparent I wasn't going to elaborate.

"Asuka loved Shinji... I can see that now, even if she had no idea at all how to express it. I won't stop them from being together."

"That doesn't answer my question."

I stopped in the hallway and glared at her, straightening up so that I pretty much towered over her.

"...My Lord?" She amended, looking nervous for the first time I could recall.

I blinked at that, then turned to go down a side hallway. After a couple steps, I turned around, continuing backwards. "What would you do?" I called back to her.

She hurried to catch up, not quite running, but power-walking quickly to close the distance between us. When she was close enough, I turned around and began walking normally.

"He can still visit whenever he wishes," she supplied.

"Now _you _are avoiding the question," I pointed out.

She grimaced, "It's... not as easy as I originally thought."

"What's not?" Mei asked, appearing through a doorway and turning to join us.

"Shinji's request for a transfer," I said.

"Oh." Mei frowned in thought.

"If I approved it, what would you do with him?" I asked, as we approached the bridge.

"She'd like to slap him in a SIM and add him to the Pilot's roster," Mei said, nodding her head towards Nei in indication.

I frowned. "And you?" I asked her.

"Same basic treatment you've given him on the _Thunder_," she replied immediately.

"And Captain Kei?" I asked, with a slight smirk.

Mei shrugged, "as if you even have to ask. She thinks like you, so it's a safe bet we'd outvote Nei here."

Nei frowned, but didn't argue. I nodded, "Then he can transfer over. Tell Kei not to be too demanding when it comes time to eat," I said, to which the two smiled lightly. "SHODAN, one to the Thunder."

As the bridge of the _Thunder_ appeared around me, replacing the tiered bridge of _The Nerve_, I smiled slightly at the Earth, visible ahead, and had SHODAN contact Makoto.

"Heya, Mako-chan, you hungry?" I asked, when she responded.

There was a silence for a moment, before she spoke, "Yeah... what's up? You sound..." she trailed off, and I blinked.

"Sound what?"

"Relaxed, actually. You get a massage or something?" She asked.

"A massage? I can get massages?" I asked, incredulously.

"You didn't know? We've got our own personal parlor right down the hall from our room."

"Why the hell didn't Archer cover _that_ in our tour!" I shouted, turning to the Captain in question, who looked mortified.

"My lord... I... We..." I held up my hand to silence him.

"What'd you have in mind for dinner," she asked, after a brief laugh.

I could still hear the smile on her face as she asked, and I couldn't help but smile myself as I responded, "Well, Shinji's going to move over to _The Nerve_ soon, I figured he and our Chef could surprise us one last time before he went on over to being Kei's personal food-slave."

Makoto made a slight hissing noise, "poor kid," she elaborated. "I'll be up in a sec-" She started, before alarms began going off.

"What the hell's that?" Makoto asked, a moment before I heard a familiar alarm go off in the background of the call.

"My Lord, the Fifteenth Angel has appeared!"

--------

And thus a new chapter is done. Only took me 6 months and some change. Sorry, sorry... my interest in Eva has waned, and while I'll never give it up, I'm currently in a totally different mood, so writing this is hard... Not to mention that last chapter left me in a bit of a tough corner. I know I've screwed up the timing with the Angels some, but... well... I never could find an accurate timeline, so I've pretty much had to wing it.

In other news, though, there's the Future of NASIF. While originally this was just some horribly campy attempt to write something entertaining enough for me to go back and check my own skill on, It's sort of evolved into an interest-based juggernaut that occupies a lot of my waking hours when I'm not lost in a video game, movie, or book. Not that anyone could tell from the speed at which I update. Still, Looking over all I've written (every time I re-read, I spot things I'd forgotten, and they sometimes make me laugh...) I've noticed a recent sort of trend...

So I've decided to pose to you, the readers, a question: What do you like? What don't you like? Lately, I've gone sort of action/talk/action/talk/action/talk format-wise. While action scenes are fun to write, and Dialogue tends to forward the story the fastest, I feel, lately, that it's almost formulaic, the way I do things. Is it bad, or am I paranoid? Also, what series seem good or bad to you? I know that's asking for a flood of bizarre suggestions, but my list, while lengthy, has some bizarre places on its own, and I kind of want to see what people are potentially looking forward to... It'd be nice to do them all, but I'm afraid some places, while excellent at first glance, would end up like that Wing Commander Arc, which is unfinished, much to my eternal shame. And hey, if you want to see more of that, let me know as well.

As usual, thanks go to Parker and Nate, who contributed both ideas and support as I dragged this beastly chapter out of the seas of my mind. God help me if I ever get stuck so horribly again...


	13. Chapter 13

"Shields up!"

There was no noticeable change after I'd given the order, but a moment later, an officer in the crew pit announced that the shields were now raised.

"Get me in contact with HQ below and _The Nerve_," I ordered, slipping into my chair. Makoto was down in Tokyo-3, as was just about everyone else from NERV, with only Nabiki aboard _Jupiter's Thunder_ with me. Dr. Akagi was -along with Shinji- aboard _The Nerve_ last I'd checked, and that accounted for everyone with an opinion that would matter to me at the moment.

As the communications officers worked to establish a video link with both the ship and the structure below, I stared out the viewports, resting my eyes on the form of the 15th, which looked like some sort of multi-winged glow-in-the-dark bird.

"Communications have been established, my Lord; putting it up on the monitors now."

I glanced up at the screens and nodded slightly towards the faces that looked back at me. Dr. Akagi dominated the one to the left, and to the right, I saw Fuyutsuki, Misato, and Makoto on the command Deck of NERV, Fuyutsuki in his chair, Makoto in mine, and Misato standing behind Fuyutsuki, apparently in his old position.

Fuyutsuki spoke first, "As indicated by your papers, the 15th has indeed appeared in orbit."

"It hasn't begun its attack yet," Ritsuko pointed out, not looking up from whatever she was doing below the edge of the cameras view.

"Well, originally Rei took it out, right? We should probably have her suit up and prepare" Misato suggest, to which everyone nodded. Fuyutsuki turned to give the order, while I turned to Captain Archer.

"Are we within firing range?" I asked quietly.

"My Lord, the _Jupiter's Thunder_ has the ability to attack from across a solar system... however, given the target's size, optimal firing range would presumable be somewhat closer," he replied in a similar tone.

"I see," I mumbled, looking at the glowing-white object ahead. From what I could tell by looking at the displays, the _Thunder_, _The Nerve_, and Tokyo-3 were all about equally distanced from the Angel. Still, only two of those three had both the ability to move within range.

"The _Thunder _will move in to engage, _The Nerve_ will follow as backup and support," I said, giving the orders to do so a moment later.

"Yourealize that we'll be unable to support you from down here until Rei has the Lance, don't you?" Misato asked.

"Yes, we're not going to attack immediately. We're just moving into position, first. I'll give the First Children some time, but I don't want to risk anything..."

"Like us?" Nabiki asked from beside me.

I shot her a glance, before shrugging, "No, I was thinking more along the lines of the billion or so people below... remember, the papers showed only what offensive capabilities this Angel has."

"He's right. We don't know how it intends to reach Adam, or if it has any other offensive abilities," Ritsuko pointed out.

"Be careful," I heard Makoto say quietly, and I grinned at her image onscreen for a moment before turning to look at the approaching Angel.

At this distance, it was much easier to make out, the thing's multiple wing-like projections spanning a portion of the heavens. "Looks kinda like Tyrael," I mumbled. Nabiki chuckled, but nobody else seemed to understand the reference.

"Your records indicate it can target a single individual and either have them relieve painful memories or force the mental anguish associated with painful memories upon a victim," Dr. Akagi said, glancing up from a clipboard she'd apparently been reading off of.

"Any suggestions for treatment?" Nabiki immediately asked.

"It was described as being mentally raped, so if anyone begins to suffer, you're potentially best off stunning them. I don't know if the attack continues while unconscious, but unless you have a way to induce an artificial coma, that's the best immediate treatment I can offer, followed by psychotherapy."

I grimaced, before turning to Captain Archer, who gave the order throughout the ship that anyone suffering a mental attack was to be stunned and delivered to the infirmary immediately.

I turned glanced up at Makoto again, giving her a disarming smile, before turning to Nabiki, "ready?"

"Only slightly," she said with a smirk. "Too bad the Particle Beam Cannon isn't finished," she said with a slight frown, looking at the rent superstructure outside and below. It was about 75 finished, but nowhere near ready for use, so we were going to have to rely on our _mere_ Heavy Turbolasers.

"Well, at least we can unleash the other big guns," I said, wryly, before turning to the weapons officer. "Commence attack."

The officer nodded, and turned back to his station, and I shifted my gaze to the Angel outside. There was a brief flash from it, and suddenly there was a shout, and I spun, just in time to see the weapons officer collapse as the blue-rings of a stun-shot impacted with his side. The image, however, began to fade to white as something outside began shining into the bridge with an unnatural brightness. The Photoreactive layers on the bridge viewports activated immediately, but the light seemed to penetrate the Durasteel bulkhead as easily as it did the crystal-clear windows.

"SHODAN, Take over, commence firing!" I yelled, as everyone around me had started talking loudly, and I had to shout to be heard.

"Quiet, all of you!" I shouted, annoyed that everyone seemed to have lost any sort or military discipline. The light was nigh-blinding now, and everyone was screaming, far worse than the situation warranted.

Through squinted eyes, I looked around for Nabiki, to see what she thought of the situation, but realized with a start that she was curled up on the ground, covering her ears and apparently shouting at the top of her lungs. The fact that I could barely pinpoint her voice in the din clued me in that something was wrong. When I covered my ears, and there was hardly any change in the volume, I realized that Arael was attacking, and apparently targeting more than one person at a time.

Doing my best to ignore the sounds around me (and finally realizing that a majority of the voices were all in my head, much to my annoyance) I tried to give SHODAN orders to destroy the Angel, but the light was past blinding, and was quickly becoming excruciating, stabbing through my eyelids.

"Oh, shit," I mumbled, trying my best to cover my ears and my eyes at the same time. I felt myself slip out of my chair, and tried burying my face in my knees, but at that moment, I smelled something burning, and hoped to hell that was just the Angel's mental assault, and not my ship.

The smell was weak at first, but quickly grew, from the harsh stench of burnt plastic into a sudden sickening miasma of disgusting smells that made my stomach knot up as I identified odors like vomit, burning flesh, raw sewage, rotting meat, and for some odd reason, that acrid stench of sapped bugs. I would have laughed if I wasn't afraid I'd puke.

After the odors had reached their high-point, I began to feel something on my skin and throughout my entire body. If the stench of burning flesh had made me think we were on fire, then the sudden shock of being immersed in liquid nitrogen was enough to make me scream out, every nerve in my body insisting we were currently swimming in Antarctic waters while feverish, and I could feel my body start to shiver immediately, which made covering my ears practically pointless.

By this point, I wasn't really thinking clearly, so when suddenly, everything ceased assaulting my senses and I found myself on the Bridge again, surrounded by moaning, shivering bodies, some of which looked blissfully unconscious, the rest writing in agony, I was fairly confused.

"What the..." I said, before glancing down. I was in my cursed form. Shifting my shoulders, I frowned. I even had my wings out.

"Kyle!" I spun and looked at a pale Makoto who was staring at me while relief and worry warred for dominance across her features.

"What happened?" I asked, wincing as my head began to throb.

"Everyone on the _Thunder _is incapacitated. _The Nerve_ is unable to penetrate the 15th Angel's AT-Field, and Rei is ascending with the Lance to attack from the ground."

"How'd I...?" I asked, gripping my head as the pain behind my eyes continued towards migraine levels.

"SHODAN teleported some water onto you... though a lot of it was lost. Whatever that attack is, it's screwing with the teleporters horribly."

"Wave pattern analysis indicates Arael is bombarding you with multiple forms of energy, as well as particulate matter... it's-" Ritsuko started, before I cut her off.

"I really could care less right now," I growled, sitting down again.

"Are you still feeling the effects?" Someone asked. I didn't see who, and I wasn't paying enough attention to catch who by the voice.

"Try your AT-Field" someone suggested. I think it was Makoto, but it could have been Fuyutsuki for all I cared. I nodded and held one hand forward weakly, before calling forth the barrier that made me _me_.

Almost instantly the pain died down. But after a second, I felt pressure, and knew that the Angel was trying to batter the field down.

"It won't hold for long. My concentration is shot," I said, wincing as the field flickered.

"Rei is almost there. Just hold on a little longer!" Makoto shouted. I nodded, gritting my teeth as I felt the pressure grow further and my strength weaken. The Officers around me began to quiet down, and I realized the assault on them had either lessened or fully ended as the Angel's focus was now on me.

"Kyle!" someone screeched from nearby. It shocked me so bad I jumped, and that was enough to make me drop the AT-Field.

Instantly, I was surrounded by a red nothingness, like being in an ocean of blood, though there was no felling of liquid or _anything_ against my skin. I just sort of hovered in the middle of it, and wondered what the hell had just happened.

"INTERLOPER!" The voice was more than just a voice; it was as if the universe itself had spoken. Or shouted, really; it hadn't sounded too happy.

"Umm... What's up?" I asked, uncertain. I'm sure I could have mustered up some bravado, but I was a little freaked by the fact that I couldn't seem to breathe, but didn't appear to need to. At least I could talk.

"YOU DO NOT BELONG!"

I frowned. Was this Arael? Before I could ask, I saw a pinpoint of light appear in the far distance, and rapidly grow. There was a roar so deep it shook me to the marrow, and suddenly I felt like I was falling, a moment before I realized I was lying down on the floor of the bridge, someone shaking my shoulder and calling my name.

"Oh, god, that was weird," I mumbled, cracking my eyes. "Makoto?" I asked when I realized I was being shaken by my wife.

Instead of answering, she threw her arms around me, and I tentatively returned the gesture, easing into it after a moment when it became clear she was real.

"Rei took out the 15th with the Lance a few seconds after your AT-Field collapsed," She said, helping me up into my chair. She sat down in my lap as a pale Captain Archer handed me a glass of hot water, and I nodded my thanks before dumping it over my head and feeling myself revert.

"SHODAN?" I asked, wincing as I felt my sore throat.

"Yes?" the AI replied.

"Was the entire ship affected?" I asked.

"Yes it was."

I frowned. Kinda hard to tell everyone affected to take a break. Makoto, however, had a better idea: "SHODAN, see who from below can cover essential positions up here while everyone afflicted gets some rest. Anyone not able to get time to recuperate immediately should be given extended time off as soon as possible."

I glanced at her, somewhat surprised for a moment, before wrapping one arm around her. She leaned into me, and gave me a quick kiss before straightening up. "I'm glad you're alright," she whispered.

I squeezed her again, "I'm glad I am too... that wasn't fun."

"No kidding," Nabiki said, standing beside the chair and looking at us with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Nabiki!" I practically shouted, making Makoto wince.

"I'm fine, I'm fine... nothing a night's rest won't fix, anyway," she said, staring outside for a moment before turning back to me with a slight smile.

I felt bad I hadn't thought to check on her when I was up, but before I could apologize, she nodded to Makoto and left the bridge.

"Damn... I feel kinda bad... is she going to be okay?" I asked, as we both stared at the door for a moment.

"I think she was right... a little sleep, and she'll be back to normal," Makoto said, after a little hesitation.

"What's up? Something else wrong?" I asked, catching her pause.

"Nothing we can do anything about, I don't think," she replied softly, before leaning in for another hug.

While the headache was definitely gone, the mental fatigue caused by the assault still weighed heavily on my mind, and after making sure everyone affected was going to be taken care of, we slipped out ourselves, heading towards our room, and more importantly, the bed within.

The next day, after a lengthy downtime that saw little done aboard the _Thunder_, activity began to pick up, and after giving a few quick orders to get the construction on the PBC completed post-haste, Makoto, Nabiki and I teleported down to NERV, where another post-encounter meeting was taking place.

"Tell me again why we have so many of these?" I mumbled as we navigated the winding corridors.

"Because civilization demands that progress be indicated by the number of meetings a group of people can have when deciding to get things done," Nabiki quipped.

I stopped in the hallway. "Umm... how, exactly, does that work?" I fired back with a frown.

Makoto, who'd had her arm around me, pushed me forward to continue walking. "Don't think about it, just get it over with. Tonight we're having that dinner you asked for... no interruptions, no Angels... and if anything happens, the world can go to hell, just so long as I get fed."

"Can I come?" Someone asked from behind me. We all spun, surprised to see Shinji there, in an imperial uniform, no less.

"To dinner? Or the meeting?" I asked, after a moment of staring. He looked uncertain for a second, before hesitantly replying, "Both, I guess."

"Hmm," I hmm-ed, before turning to Makoto, who shot me a quick glare. I grimaced, before speaking, "Well, the meeting is fine, though I'm not quite sure why you'd want to come, but dinner... Dinner is..." I trailed off, and thought about how to say no nicely.

"They're having a private dinner. But we can certainly go out, Shinji," Nabiki said, while I was still trying to come up with a way to turn him down nicely. Both Makoto and I shot her a quick thankful glance, and she smiled back quickly, before turning to the young pilot. "So what do you say? Dinner and maybe a movie or something?"

He looked hesitant, before nodding.

"It's a plan, then," Nabiki exclaimed, before turning and heading for the meeting room ahead. The rest of us followed, and quickly took our places as the rest of the combined NERV/Imperial leadership filtered in.

"What's he doing here?" Misato asked, looking at Shinji with an almost hurt expression on her face.

"He asked to come, and I told him he could," I stated evenly.

"He's no longer a pilot. Nothing we say here concerns him," she said, harshly.

"I'm sorry, _Gendo_. I didn't realize I was ruining your well-laid plan," I shot back. She paled, and her anger faded, quickly replaced by a woman who had obviously had too few good nights of rest.

"Well, now that everyone's here, lets begin," Fuyutsuki said, drawing the attention of the room's occupants.

Aside from Fuyutsuki, Misato, Makoto, me, Nabiki, and Shinji, the Bridge Techs, Ritsuko, and Rei were present from NERV, and Both Admiral Yuuki and General Hongo were present, as was Captain Archer.

"First off, Dr. Akagi has some things she would like to present. Dr. Akagi?"

"Thank you Commander. First off, the sensors aboard _The Nerve_ are far superior to ours down here, and I now see little reason to object to using them to supplement our ground-based system, if not replace it altogether."

"Nice to know someone had fun yesterday," Nabiki interjected.

"Yes, well... in any case. Records indicate that the 15th Angel, Codenamed 'Arael,' used a previously-unknown directed-energy-weapon to assault a single target's mental facilities."

"Thing hit more than a single target," I mumbled.

"Getting to that," she said, before passing out a series of printouts that looked like someone had scribbled all over a graph.

"And this is...?" Misato asked, giving it a look that I imagine was similar to mine.

"The Sensors aboard _The Nerve_ managed to extrapolate a majority of the energy used. You were being bombarded by a waveform similar to an AT-Field, but interspersed with particulate matter that looked like slowly-dying pieces of the Angel itself," she stated, looking up proudly as if that explained the paper we were staring at.

"Uh-huh..." Nabiki summarized, picking up the page and holding it up, before turning it upside down as if that would help clarify things.

Ritsuko groaned, "It's not that hard. Basically, the Angel threw microscopic pieces of itself at you, and used that to relay information back about your mental state."

"And how'd these pieces get through the shield?" I asked, frowning. I may not have been able to do much during the assault, but I clearly recall giving the order to raise shields before the battle began.

"That's something else entirely. The entire Angel seemed to phase-shift during most of the battle. The particles were converting to a form of matter your shields didn't block. It's like they converted to an unstable energy matrix that bypassed the shield, but the matrix collapsed, reverting back to its original form."

"That makes a little more sense, I think... So it underwent some sort of reversible matter-to-energy conversion?" I asked.

"No, the process was similar, but not, the particles remained matter, never energy. It's more like when the exited electrons jump up to a higher orbit when an atom is excited... only the entire atom jumped to a higher level."

"I thought they blocked all particulate matter," I said, frowning.

"They do, My Lord," General Hongo stated, "However, looking over the information, it's clear that the attacker discovered some way to shift through them. And even though the shield generators show a rather large amount of matter was intercepted, what did get through was enough to affect everyone aboard."

Dr. Akagi nodded, and I just shrugged, "Anything we can do to prevent that next time?"

"Aside from some energy-tweaking, it's unlikely, unless we replace the entire system, Lord Kyle," Admiral Yuuki said.

I nodded at that, then turned back to Ritsuko, "Doctor?"

She straightened her papers before speaking, "basically, that's it. I'm still trying to integrate some of the Imperial technology, and that's been keeping me busy... especially now that we're beginning to install it down here. Which reminds me..." she turned to the bridge techs. "You three need to come up sometime and start training with the new equipment. There's a wide range of changes to all systems you'll need to get caught up on."

I blinked at that. Makoto just smirked. The three techs shifted uncomfortably, and finally, it was Fuyutsuki who broke the silence.

"I think we're getting a little off topic... Major?" He asked, looking at Misato.

"Yes sir. Rei's training schedule has been drawn up and submitted, and I've taken the liberty to... err..." she seemed to lose confidence, before continuing, "draw up a tentative schedule for the Sub-Commander... if he's not too busy with other stuff."

"Oh really..." I asked, frowning as the schedule made its way to me. Aside from Harmonics and Synch tests, there was also something called NFFT every other day.

"What's NFFT?" Makoto asked, and I frowned as I realized the first session was today, when we'd scheduled dinner.

"Dr. Akagi, Lieutenant Ibuki and I came up with it, after the... err... incursion incident," Misato said.

"Oh?" Nabiki offered.

"Basically, it's training for you and Rei, without your EVA's in forming, detecting, and disabling AT-Fields," She explained.

"Oh. What's NFFT stand for?" I asked.

"Natural-Form-Field-Training," Dr. Akagi stated smugly.

"How..." I trailed off, trying to think of an appropriate word to describe my feelings for the crappy and boring acronym. Hmm, those might just work; why mince words?

Before I could describe it as such, however, Misato continued. "In any case... starting tonight, you two will train together with the Magi sensors to help strengthen your natural AT-Fields as well as potentially giving you a limited ability to detect them."

"I'm going to have to supersede you there, Major. The Sub-Commander and I have plans tonight that are _not_ being postponed," Makoto said.

"But-" Misato tried, before Makoto cut her off.

"No 'buts.' I've... we've put this off for far too long. The Sub-Commander's training can begin in the morning. Tonight, he's all mine."

Misato looked like she wanted to object some more, but finally crossed her arms, "Fine," she replied under her breath.

"General, I believe you're up," Fuyutsuki said, moving the meeting ahead.

General Hongo nodded, "Thank you, Commander. I'll try to make this short. Imperial forces throughout the city have finished settling in, and have begun patrol and watch duties in their designated areas. Not counting NERV Headquarters, which I believe the Commander intends to bring up; I feel we're finally ready for whatever contemporary forces are sent our way."

I quirked a brow, "that it?"

"Yes, My Lord."

"Keen. Nice and short. Anything to add, Admiral?" I asked, turning to Admiral Yuuki.

"Nothing aside from pointing out that what few Aerospace forces we have down here should be sufficient, and that I've a wing of Defenders on standby at all hours just in case more aerial power is needed."

"Very good," I said, smirking. At least the deployment was taken care of.

"As the General stated, I'd like to briefly point out that that the integration of Imperial Forces within the Headquarters continues, though I've come to understand that until all the technological advances we're trying to integrate come online and functional, we'll still be seeing a lot of unfamiliar faces for the time being."

"So keep an eye out for potential threats?" Nabiki asked.

"Somewhat. Security was never lax around here, and it's since picked up since the... I believe it was referred to as the 'Incursion Event?'" he shot Misato a quick grin, before continuing, "In any case, all command and bridge officers and staff are to carry both a sidearm and datapad, which can be used to track your location as well as communicate through contemporary jamming."

"A reasonable precaution," I said, earning a nod from Nabiki and the General.

"I think that about covers it. Does anybody else have anything to add?" Fuyutsuki asked, straightening up the papers before him in preparation to leave.

"I do," Shinji quietly said, earning somewhat surprised glances from everyone.

"Yes, Mr. Ikari?" Fuyutsuki asked, after a moment of surprised silence.

"Actually, sir, it's Lieutenant Ikari," He stated, indicating the rank bar attached to his chest. I held back a laugh at the rebuke, but couldn't help but smirk. A couple other people at the table smiled as well, and I thought I herd a snicker, but I couldn't spot who it was.

"Yes then, Lieutenant?" Fuyutsuki corrected with a slight smile on his face as well.

"I... I'd like to pilot Eva again... but for the Empire." He stated softly.

"You... what?" I said, surprised.

"Please, sir. I know what you said to me, about having done my part... but you also told me to learn from my mistakes and move on... and... I think Asuka would have wanted it," he said, so quietly I wasn't sure the rest of the table heard him.

"Well, Shinji... I told you before you're free to do as you please... if this is what you want," I said, trailing off and looking at him speculatively.

"It is," he said with a nod.

I nodded back, "then that is what you'll do."

"And what will he pilot?" Misato shot.

Before I could respond, Nabiki retorted, "Oh, like you'll get anything out of Unit 01 without him. We all know exactly which one person on this entire planet Unit 01 will accept as a pilot. Without Shinji, all you have is a one-horned, two-eyed, giant purple paperweight."

Makoto snorted at that, and I couldn't help but smile as well, earning a confused glance from Lieutenant Aoba, but I ignored it, turning to Fuyutsuki. "Commander, I'm going to have to request Unit 01 be transferred into my services until the end of the hostilities with the Angels."

He was obviously surprised. "Oh... well, that's a fairly tall request. What... exactly, would NERV be getting in return?"

I frowned, "Only 40 or so meters worth..." I mumbled, before fixing him with a hard stare. "Haven't I given enough?"

Fuyutsuki nodded, "Fine. We'll lease Unit 01 to you for the duration. Lieutenant Ikari, I know you'd probably prefer to work solely on the Imperial side of things, but I would rather you join Rei and the Sub-Commander in their training, if for no other reason than to ensure proper teamwork for the remaining Angels.

Shinji looked stricken, and I quirked a brow at him, "Accepting responsibility means facing the things you don't like, as well as the things you do," I said.

"But... I don't like piloting either," he said, flatly.

"Oh... then why...?"

"Because, like I said... It's a mistake to leave you and Rei the only pilots... and like Nab- Admiral Tendo said, I'm the only one that can Pilot Unit 01, so I have to do this."

I blinked. That was a bit more pragmatic that I would have expected from someone not even fifteen. "Very well; do you consent to training with NERV's remaining Pilot and I, as well as submitting to their commands in a time of crisis?"

He closed his eyes, before nodding, "yes," he said, turning to look at Misato, "I'll follow orders."

Fuyutsuki nodded, then turned to Ritsuko, "Dr. Akagi, I think you've got your work cut out for you."

She rolled her eyes, and stood to go. "Come on, Ibuki, we've got a lot to go over, and no time to go over it in."

The Lieutenant hurried after the departing doctor, leaving everyone else still a little surprised at Shinji's actions.

"Well then, I suppose that's everything," Fuyutsuki said dryly. There were a couple chuckles, and everyone stood to go.

"Well, that was fun," Makoto said, as we made our way to the garage. Makoto and I had called ahead for a car, which was supposedly waiting to take us to our dinner.

"I'm glad it was kept short. That last Budget meeting just about killed me," I noted.

"I didn't mind that," Nabiki said with a grin.

"You wouldn't," Makoto shot back. Then she frowned, "Still, I'm surprised they didn't talk more about the attack. Usually those meetings are full of 'lets go over everything twenty-times' segments."

Nabiki and I slowed. "Basically, it was like an assault on the senses," I said, to which Nabiki nodded. "It started off with noise, like people talking, then they started shouting-"

"What were they saying?" Shinji asked.

"Well, I don't know, really. It was incoherent; like being in a room full of people talking. I couldn't pick out just one voice. I thought it was the Officers at first, but when the number of voices was far higher than the number of people present, I kinda realized it was in my head." I explained.

"And after the voices went from shouting to just screaming and shrieking, I wasn't really in the mood to do much more than try to shut them up," Nabiki added.

"At the same time, there was the light," I explained, as we stepped into an elevator.

"Like the noise," Nabiki interjected.

I nodded, "yeah, it started off coming from the angel, like someone turning a flashlight on you in the dark. But instead of a flashlight, it was everywhere, everything kinda faded to white light that wouldn't go away, even if you closed your eyes. Couldn't hear, couldn't see..."

Nabiki shuddered, and I grimaced, "next came the smell... It was... putrid."

"You're being too kind," Nabiki stated, smirking, but the smirk hid a look of unease in her eyes.

"What was it?" Makoto asked.

"At first, I thought something had caught fire, like burning wire insulation... plastic. But it grew, and new smells were thrown in... Sewage, burning meat, rotting meat... puke... it was pretty bad. I'm kinda glad I hadn't eaten yet," I said, with a grimace. And we were going out to eat soon, too. Hope my appetite returned by then.

"Was that it?" Makoto asked, taking my hand as the elevator opened on the correct level.

"No, then it was feeling... like we'd been dumped in an ocean of ice-water," Nabiki supplied.

I felt Makoto shiver slightly at that, and I gave her hand a squeeze, even as I elaborated, "It was everywhere though... inside and out. I didn't even know my bones could feel cold, but they were freezing, too. It was..." I trailed off looking for the right word.

"Unpleasant?"

The four of us turned around to see Rei standing there, looking somewhat unsure of herself suddenly. "Rei?" I asked, after a moment's hesitation.

"Sub-Commander," she replied, curtly.

"Something wrong?" Makoto asked, frowning.

"No, ma'am. I would like to accompany you and Lieutenant Ikari, if that is acceptable" she elaborated.

"Well, Makoto and Kyle are heading off together for some," she smirked, "_alone time_... but you're welcome to join Shinji and me, if you'd like."

Rei didn't respond verbally, only nodding before joining us as we walked down the hallway.

"So what did you mean by 'unpleasant?'" I asked, turning to glance at the stoic pilot.

"I read some of the reports from crewmen aboard the _Thunder," _she answered.

"And that's how they describe it?" I muttered, surprised. Quite a bit of understatement.

"In most of the reports, the sensation of cold was described as a highly-emphasized 'unpleasant.' When you hesitated, I assumed you were looking for a description, and offered you the one most commonly given," she elaborated.

"... oh." Nabiki said, summing up most of our thoughts.

"You all didn't taste anything did you?" Makoto asked, fearfully.

I shook my head, "around that time, SHODAN managed to beam some water onto me, triggering my curse. Then all I got was a headache... at least, well... you know," I explained. Then I frowned, "Nabiki, did you..."

She just nodded, frowning in obvious disgust, "It was like... you know how sand feels in your mouth? It was like that, only worse... like ash... and it tasted like... I don't know. Filth... Honestly, if we're going to eat, I don't really want to think about it. But... yeah... 'Bad taste' was in there." She hastily changed the subject, "What about you? You said you had your curse triggered... how'd that work? Help at all?"

I shook my head as the escalator took us closer to the garage, "Not in the end, no. At first, it was great, and I managed to talk with NERV on the ground and _The Nerve_, but I quickly got a headache, which got worse and worse, until I deployed my AT-Field."

"We registered that from the ground. Ritsuko didn't say anything, but Lieutenant Ibuki was surprised when it showed up. I'm glad you heard me," Makoto said.

"I wasn't sure who said it, but I heard it... and thanks. It helped for a bit."

"Yeah it... err... must have been around then that everything stopped for me. I remember lying on the floor, and then..." Nabiki started, before trailing off.

"And then?" I asked, frowning.

"You seized up," Makoto said, turning to Nabiki. "You seized up for a moment, then shouted out Kyle's name, before you collapsed."

"I... yeah, I just got hit with something... I guess I saw him out of the corner of my eye or something before... but it was nothing," she explained, sounding somewhat edgy.

I frowned, but let it slide, since she looked sort of distressed. "Anyway... after that, my AT-Field slipped, and I got hit with some weird vision-thing. It was just me in this endless sea of red... and some gigantic voice said... umm..." I paused, trying to remember.

"Interloper," Rei stated.

"Yeah! Hey, wait... how'd you know?" I asked, frowning.

"I heard it as well. It interrupted my throw," she explained, with an almost inaudible sense of annoyance.

"That's why you almost tripped!" Makoto exclaimed, to which Rei merely nodded once.

I sighed, "Well, after that, it said I didn't belong, and then, I guess Rei killed it because there was this flash of light, and then I woke up to your worried face," I said, leaning over to give Makoto as kiss as the final door opened and we entered the parking garage.

"Thank you, Rei, for saving us,' Nabiki said, as we approached the waiting cars. Apparently SHODAN or someone had called ahead for a second.

"Yes, you definitely have my thanks, as well," I added, to which she nodded one, again, before opening the door and slipping into the car.

"Well... I guess that's that, then. See you later?" I asked.

Nabiki shrugged, "maybe. You two have fun." She shot us both a soft smile, before climbing into the car.

I turned to Shinji, "Well... I guess I'll see you tomorrow at training, at the very latest."

"Yeah... have fun, sir; ma'am." He said, smiling slightly before climbing in the car himself.

"What do you think they meant by that?" I asked, turning back to Makoto.

"I think you'll just have to wait until after dinner to see," she said with a toothy grin.

"Oh," I replied smartly, a grin of my own growing on my face. And that night, there was definitely a lot of fun to be had.

Over the next couple days, a routine was established; wherein I found myself with little free time between all the training I was stuck doing. I had dispatched the _Jupiter's Thunder_ to retrieve the Lance from its lunar orbit earlier, and while I waited patiently for the mighty warship to play fetch (grumbling all the while) Dr. Akagi ambushed me with a surprise test schedule.

"Explain to me again why I'm doing Synch tests when my Angel-form doesn't _synch,_ so much as supersede?"

Dr. Akagi responded over the communications channel. "Your synch rate, unlike Shinji and Rei's, was a basic sine wave. However, between the initial test and now, records indicate that you can shorten the wavelength and increase frequency."

"Amazing, Doctor. Think you could dumb that down for me? I kind of slept through Physics," I replied sarcastically.

"It's math," she pointed out.

"I know. I used to play around with the Sin button on my calculator during Algebra 2" I replied with a smirk.

"Then why..?" I heard her sigh, and grinned as she started to explain, "the waves would be taller and closer together... instead of flipping through a picture book of black and white images, you'd be watching an animated picture in color."

"Oh... so the feedback from Unit-04 would be more precise. Sort of like upping the refresh rate on a computer monitor," I said.

"Very good. You don't appear to loose connectivity during the troughs, but since fifty percent of your time piloting is below zero, we want to ensure that any deficiency you suffer there is mitigated as quickly as possible. With a shorter wavelength, the trough is shorter, and the crests come more frequently," she elaborated, as I proceeded to play around with some of the random items in the Entry plug. Not that there was any reason too, but I was getting bored.

"What are you doi-" She started to ask, before I cut her off.

"What about harmonics? And do you _know _that anything negative happens during the trough?"

"I... you're just trying to distract me aren't you?" she asked, frowning at me through the camera. I smirked sheepishly, before turning off the useless radar interface. Without a fully-activated Eva, the interface just gave error messages as it tried to activate a non-existent sensor-array.

After another ten minutes of staring at walls, the test concluded, and Ritsuko congratulated me on my progress, a moment before I flung LCL at her with a wing. Shinji and Rei had also improved, much like all the other times we'd tested, and surely would in the future. I wasn't sure if she was patronizing us, or honestly thought the same canned congratulations and numbers made us happy.

While Ritsuko was in charge during Synch and Harmonics Testing/Training, Rei took charge of the much weirder Normal Form Field Training; at least the AT-Field part of it.

I would have figured her for a pretty bad instructor, since she didn't seem the type elaborate, but she didn't seem to ever get frustrated with me when I didn't understand what she was trying to say, and was more patient than any other teacher I'd ever had before.

Over time, I not only got faster at bringing the AT-Field forth, but I learned how it could be used as a weapon (an AT-Field that appeared bisecting an enemy was fairly deadly, and bisecting a weapon was disarming) and as a platform upon which to stand.

"What are you doing?" Rei asked, after I'd begun bouncing off AT-Fields I'd bring into existence like walls in the room we trained in. I knew Ranma would have been jealous to see me now... in town, he could have done this with closely-placed buildings, but now I had something to spring off of that was always right where I needed it.

"I'm just trying something out," I said gleefully as I shot past her for the tenth time.

"Lord Kyle," she said, suddenly. The sudden change in her demeanor was enough to throw me for a loop, and I failed to summon a proper AT-Field to end my flight, or even land properly at all. After tumbling to a stop on the padded floor, I climbed to my feet and turned to her.

"Something on your mind, Rei?" I asked. She rarely called me Lord Kyle here, when she was the instructor.

"I would like to learn how to move like that," she said, finally.

I opened my mouth to reply, but paused. Could I? She would probably be a quick learner, but I wasn't sure I'd make a very good teacher. Maybe...

"Let me see what Makoto thinks, Rei. I doubt she'd turn you down, but if you're to be trained, I think she should help. Is that acceptable?"

"It is," she replied. I'd grown used to her seemingly-flat responses, enough so that I detected at least some relief in her voice when she spoke, and I smiled lightly, making a mental note to talk to Makoto as soon as we were done.

A couple days later, Makoto and I had our first student, and over the next week, she soaked up everything we had to teach like a sponge. Makoto and I were worried she might try something she wasn't quite ready for, but she heeded every warning, obeyed every rule, and followed every guideline we laid down without complaint.

It was only a month and a half later that Rei too began using her AT-Field as a springboard. While not as capable as the wish-augmented Makoto or I, it was impressive to see what dedication of her caliber could result in.

She also maintained a flair for exactness I would never master in summoning an AT-Field. While I could bring one up in a precise place to protect, bisect, or intercept (myself or incoming danger), Rei's dexterity with them was unparalleled. Her fields were more fluid, contracting or expanding to precise sizes on the fly, shifting and sliding to cover vulnerable areas almost as quickly as they became apparent, and even bouncing like a springboard to help her achieve the leaps Makoto and I had somewhat cheated to reach.

Her dedication had attracted some attention too, and one day, while sparring with Rei, I glanced over at the small class of beginners learning from Makoto (who was more lenient during training) who had recently requested to join us. Rei's acceptance had opened the flood gates, and now a small class of both NERV and Imperial soldiers were beginning to take lessons from Makoto and me. 'And soon,' I mused, 'Rei, who could probably handle the beginner classes better than the both of us combined.'

One of the bigger surprises had been Shinji's hesitant request to join. Despite my reluctance, he'd proven rather adept, and while I doubted he'd rival even the best of my home universe, he was a good listener, and didn't complain, which is more than I can say for some of the NERV staff who'd requested to join us. Rounding up the class was a small selection of officers from the _Thunder_, who had expressed interest when word of the class had begun to spread throughout the ship.

As the sparring match wound down, I waved to Rei to cease, and the two of us bowed before I waved her over to a bench. Makoto had just dismissed the class, and joined us at the bench.

"How do you feel you did today, Rei?" I asked, once my wife had joined me.

"I feel the sparring match was cut short," she replied, dryly. Maybe her sense of humor was coming along better than I had thought.

"Actually, Kyle and I were wondering if you would be willing to help out with the newer students. You're not much farther than they are, time-wise, but skill wise..." Makoto trailed off. Skill-wise, Rei was already a good year ahead; if not more.

She'd obviously had some prior training; we'd ascertained that almost immediately, but now, she was certainly knowledgeable and patient enough to handle the newer students. And if she truly intended to come with us when we left, this might be a good job for her, if she'd consent to a training position.

"You wish for me to teach the others?" She stared at Makoto as she asked, sounding somewhat surprised.

"You might not have noticed it, Rei, but you're a lot farther ahead than them; far enough to spot the things they are still working on, like proper posture, correct follow-through, and stance... We can teach them, but we were wondering if you'd like to, as well. We'd still work with you like we do..." I trailed off, and Makoto picked up.

"Eventually, getting better is something you have to do on your own... you teach yourself when your sources are tapped out."

"When there is nothing else to learn from others?" She inquired.

"Sort of; there are things Kyle and I know that you don't, but we cannot teach... lessons you have to learn on your own."

"Such as?" She prompted.

I frowned, "off the top of my head, I'll just say that, if you manage to hit someone hard enough to break a bone, you need to know what that feels like, so you can cease your attack immediately... or if it's a life or death situation, you can evaluate your options on-the-fly."

Makoto winced at my choice, before taking over "Or you could test yourself... Find your limits and push past them. Piece together combinations that you think would be effective, try them out, and see if they're worth keeping... and sharing. You know, things like that."

"I understand," she said, nodding.

I was about to ask her for her decision when an alarm went off.

I glanced at Makoto, who stared at me with a bit of worry as another, newly-installed alarm rang throughout the hangar bay. The distinctive sound of NERV's Angel Alarm.

"Armisael," Rei said softly, before turning towards the bulkhead door. I pulled Makoto in to a quick hug to ease her worried look, before following after Rei.

Behold, Arael. Completed. And I actually was forced to follow cannon to take it out. My, how that must burn. Or something. I apologize if the final leg of this chapter sees a little tacked on. I tried to integrate it better, but it was too short to be a chapter by itself, and not really a good enough chunk to start the next chapter off with. Or so I feel. Maybe I'm just used to ending with cliffhangers?

In any case, the next chapter is the "last," in that, after that comes the big, obvious EoE Finale before I head on to universes unknown. We're almost done with this Series, and it's about time. Not that I dislike Eva, but wow, I've been stuck on NASIF 4 forever.

Much thanks to parker and Nate, who helped turn some rather ungainly chunks of text into actual readable paragraphs, and also caught a few glaringly obvious typos my sleep-addled brain was wholly incapable of noticing. 'Spell chequer,' indeed.


	14. Chapter 14

Despite the numerous shock-absorbing devices installed between myself and the outer hull of the modified AT-AT Barge we were currently within, I could still feel every dip, rise, jar, shudder, shimmy and shake as we descended through the Earth's atmosphere.

After finding Shinji and beaming over to _The Nerve_, where the three functional Evas were now housed, we quickly loaded up, and were now forced to wait out our ride to the outskirts of Tokyo-3. Upon arrival we were to head south, where an area of little concern would act as a staging ground for the next battle.

"And we're headed to this field why?" I asked, as the briefing continued. Sometimes, real-time video communications weren't all they were cracked up to be.

"The field allows both _The Nerve_ and _Jupiter's Thunder_ to fire down without fear of hitting entrenched units, as well as giving some of the new ground-based defenses a clear shot without endangering nearby buildings or structures," Dr. Akagi explained, as Misato waited to continue the briefing.

When it was clear the doctor had finished explaining, Misato continued, "your records indicate the Angel is sensitive to Eva's, so it's a safe bet your presence will draw it to you."

"The records also indicated that nothing short of a self-destructing Eva could kill it. How do you intend to avoid that eventuality?" Nabiki cut in, from the _Thunder._

"We're hoping the combined firepower from Imperial weapons will suffice," Misato explained, curtly.

The looks on Shinji and Rei's faces were unreadable, and I'm fairly certain mine was similar; that, or incredulous. "So it's another 'lets try this out and see what happens?' battle?" I asked, finally.

"Both MAGI systems are unwilling to give solid numbers without more time to go over all the variables," Dr. Akagi explained.

"As if their answers are ever right, even when given time to compute all the variables," I grumbled.

The Doctor scowled, "I'll have you know-"

She was cut off by Lieutenant Aoba, who shouted from off screen, "Reaction from the target! It's moving to intercept!"

"They're not in position yet!" Misato shouted, as if the Angel would back off and give us time to prepare.

Glancing at the Altimeter built into the modified Entry-plug, I frowned, "Um, we're not even close to the grou-" I was cut off as the external displays, previously showing the darkened interior of the Barge, suddenly flashed as one of the side walls exploded inward, a double-helix of light passing between my Unit-04 and Unit-00 before exiting out the opposite side. A moment later there was a jarring flash as the barge exploded, and through my link with the Eva, I felt myself falling.

Unit-01 was falling nearby, but 00, which had been closer inside the barge, had been thrown away by the blast. Engaging my AT-Field for a second, I deflected myself towards Shinji's unit, which had gone relatively unmodified compared to mine or Rei's, and snagged his Unit's arm before engaging my Repulsors.

While not quite powerful enough to support both Unit's full weight, they had enough effect to turn a messy impact into something merely jarring, and I nodded to Shinji's image when he thanked me while trying to find out where the Angel had gone.

"AT-AT Barge has been eliminated," Misato stated grimly.

"The crew?" I asked, hoping SHODAN had teleported them out in time. Misato shook her head, and I scowled. The Angel's had finally managed to take out Imperials. _My_ men.

"Where is it?" I asked, prepping a pair of concussion missiles.

"It's holding stationary above you, in the sun, almost," Misato offered.

"It looks like it started to engage when you flared your AT-Field, but when Rei engaged hers to slow her descent, it paused."

"Confused?" I asked, trying to spot it. The screens and sensors did their best to block out the sun to help locate the target, but the amount of radiation coming from the star was too great to get a solid lock on it.

"Kyle, we've got a couple AT-STs and an AT-AT converging on the clearing now," Nabiki reported.

"Understood," I replied, curtly, as pieces of the Barge continued to rain down around us. I glanced around the area, before turning to Rei and Shinji, "Spread out, and try to avoid deploying your AT-Field unless absolutely necessary. We'll try to keep it between us as we wait for reinforcements to arrive."

The two pilots nodded in reply before moving. Glancing up and still unable to see the 16th, I made my way over to a large flaming piece of debris, so that the three of us were fairly equidistance from each other.

"Rei, flare your AT-Field once... try to draw its attention, but be prepared to dodge," I said, as I prepared to do the same. A moment later, a section of light disengaged from the sun, streaking towards Rei with far more speed than I'd expected. Before it could reach her, however, I flared my own AT-Field, causing the Angel to pause, as if confused.

"That's an interesting game," Nabiki commented dryly as Rei repeated the move when the Angel began moving towards Unit-01.

"How long until reinforcements arrive?" I said, flaring up again as the Angel again tried for Rei.

"Not too much longer, Kyle," Makoto said, before giving me a weak grin. Not that I could blame her; this plan was the best one we'd been able to come up with, and the chances of success weren't that high.

The angel flashed slightly before suddenly heading towards Shinji again, and Rei's AT-Field flared again in an attempt to distract it. This time, however, instead of changing directions, the opposite end of the angel, which had remained almost stationary between the three of us, took off in her direction, and a moment later, both ends impacted.

"Contamination!" Dr. Akagi shouted, as alarms began ringing out from around her.

"Units-00 and -01 have been compromised. Contamination spreading from impact point," Lieutenant Ibuki stated.

"Pilot's synchograph is fluctuating" Lieutenant Aoba shouted.

I heard Shinji shout incoherently, and Rei was frowning onscreen, her expression somewhat pained, and I scowled before taking aim and letting loose a blast from the wrist-mounted lasers. Upon impact, however, instead of an expected reaction from the angel, both Rei and Shinji shouted in pain, as If I'd shot them, instead.

"Oh, that's just not fair," I mumbled, disabling the lasers and pulling out the progressive knife I'd hoped to never be reduced to. Moving forward quickly, I raised the blade high, before apologizing to Rei and Shinji for what I was about to do.

Then I grabbed the Angel with my free hand in order to keep it still while I went to work with the glowing blade.

The moment Unit-04's hand wrapped around the glowing Angel, the Entry plug around me disappeared, and I found myself once again in the endless sea of waist-deep LCL.

"What the-" I said, before scowling. Apparently, the angel's entire surface was capable of infecting an Eva, not just both ends.

"You," someone said behind me with such venom in their voice I actually felt the hatred roll over me. Turning, I smirked at the figure standing on the surface of the LCL like it was standing on solid ground.

"You must know where the rocks are," I stated, calmly, while I began to assess my opponent. Armisael was, in this place, about five-six, and looked sort of like a blonde Asuka. Or maybe that was just the scowl. Her eyes were red, though, like Rei's, and she appeared to be in her early- to mid-twenties, with a more mature figure than either pilot.

"You do not belong here. You trespass, invade, interfere where you do not belong," she hissed.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot," I replied, briefly trying to summon my AT-Field to stand on like she was, but in here, it didn't seem to work. Shrugging, I pointed at myself, "I'm Kyle. You are...?"

"You know who I am, traitor. You help the Lillim against our brothers, and yet have the audacity to act as though we are friends?"

I frowned, "Brothers? Were all the others male?"

If anything, her glare intensified. "You and these-" at this Rei and Shinji appeared nearby. For a moment something about them confused me, until I realized that, despite our differences in stature, we all seemed to be waist-deep in LCL and eye-to-eye with each other, while Armisael towered over us as she continued, "-puppets of humanity delay the inevitable, and you sew chaos as you repeatedly nullify plans eons in the making."

"Commander?" Rei asked, looking somewhat surprised at the rather plain surroundings. Shinji was looking around as well, but also looking somewhat relieved.

"You two okay?" I asked.

Rei nodded once, and Shinji gave a quiet "yeah," before looking around, "where are we?"

"You are in-" Armisael began, before I cut her off.

"We're in the Angel's head. Notice the utter lack of thought or originality here. If I knew all the angels were so mindless, I'd have just presented them with a couple math problems," I said with a shrug.

"How dare you!" Armisael gasped.

"Oh I dare," I said, turning to pin the angel with a glare of my own. "I dare because in your over-the-top comments, you've totally failed to be of any use whatsoever. So if I can't learn anything from you, I might as well make light of you to entertain myself."

Armisael visually paused at that, as if the concept was utterly foreign to her. Actually, it might have been. Do the angels understand entertainment? Finally, "You... You're not frightened, or worried you'll never get out of here, or I will contaminate your unit to the point of causing Third Impact?"

Shinji stiffened at that, and I shrugged, "I do care, but you're not really doing anything but talking here, so I'm not feeling all that threatened."

"Fool! At this very moment, my physical body is at the precipice, preparing to plunge into the core of your precious unit and initiate that which is unstoppable," she gloated.

"Can you do that from in here?" Rei asked, with a frown.

Armisael paused, and I smirked, "Well, isn't that nice. Bit of a stalemate, then; if you let us out, we'll fight the contamination, and might come up with a way to destroy you. But if you stay here, you fail your mission."

"My... but..." Armisael faltered, her superior look giving way to momentary uncertainty.

"Commander, can you not hear Dr. Akagi?" Shinji asked softly, while the angel looked withdrawn in thought.

"Do what?" I asked, frowning.

"The commander is apparently fully within this place, Shinji," Rei stated.

"You mean you two are in here and in your Eva's at the same time?" I asked, frowning. Was my unit to blame for my total immersion, or my cursed form?

"Dr. Akagi has ordered me to prepare Unit-00 to self-destruct," Rei stated, though her voice sounded worried. Only a little, but for Rei, that was saying quite a lot.

Thinking it over briefly, I wondered at Dr. Akagi's reasoning. But it was fairly obvious, once I looked at it in a way Makoto would have hit me for. One pilot versus the world. Still, it was rather cold of her to give the order to Rei's face. Even if there was no obvious other way.

"Do as she says, but only initiate if you feel it is what you must do," I finally said with a heavy sigh. If things didn't improve, then she'd have little choice.

"But sir!" Shinji began to protest, but I waved him to silence.

"Shinji, this is... this is a difficult decision to make, and I leave it to Rei... but in the end, you must know that one pilot is worth the lives of billions. You, too, should prepare your unit to self-destruct. I would too, if I could, but I'm afraid I don't have any say, at the moment."

"I... alright," he said, before his eyes went dead, much like Rei's had. Apparently, when they focused their attention on the real world, their presence here diminished to almost puppet-like projections.

I finally realized Armisael had been speaking again, turning to her, I begun to pay attention to her again. "-and in so doing, will finish what should have been done long before now."

"Wait. Could you repeat all that?" I asked, frowning. Armisael's face darkened, and she took a menacing step forward, tiny ripples in the LCL radiating out from each footstep.

"You were ignoring me!?"

I frowned at the ripples as they gently brushed up against my plugsuit. Looking up at her, I shrugged, before concentrating and forcing my wings to materialize.

"In my own mind, you have the audacity to-" she started, before I leapt, jumping free of the water and flapping once with my wings as hard as I could, to take me soaring into her as she spoke.

"OOOF" she said, as my shoulder impacted with her stomach, driving her from her feet and folding her over as my tackle took her by surprise.

"Not so high and mighty now, are we?" I asked as my head cleared the surface of the LCL. Shaking my head clear of fluid and frowning as my wet hair slapped me in the face, I proceeded to hold her under the surface. Her struggling continued for a few moments before I realized you could breathe in LCL, even if this wasn't real, and just in her mind.

Grabbing a fistful of her robe, I pulled her up, giving her a second to cough the LCL out of her lungs before pulling her face-to-face with me. "Not as omnipotent here as you thought," I stated, before heaving her around and back under the surface.

At least, I would have, if halfway through the hurl, I suddenly found myself back in my Entry plug, and my arm painfully struck the display beside me.

"What the-" I mumbled, before smirking. I was back! Unit 01 and 00 were both covered in vein-y protrusions reaching out from where the Angel was buried in both units, and I noticed my Unit 04's hand was also showing signs of contamination, though it wasn't moving at all, compared to the steady growth on the others.

"Kyle!" Makoto shouted, obviously glad that I was no longer seemingly catatonic.

"You were talking to nobody, and staring off into space. Are you better now?" Nabiki asked.

"Umm... yeah... you heard everything I said?" I frowned.

"Not the time commander," Dr. Akagi cut in, "Contamination in unit's 00 and 01 are critical. Much more, and the Angel could initiate-"

"Third Impact, yeah, I got the memo," I muttered, before tightening m grip on the Angel. "Doctor, do angels have souls?" I asked, as an idea popped into my head suddenly.

"An AT-Field is a barrier between souls, so yes, the angels would have to have a soul or something remarkably similar... why?" she answered.

"Because... I think I have an Idea..." I muttered, before trying to invert my AT Field. Or, more specifically, Unit-04's AT Field. At first, nothing happened, then suddenly, there was a double-pop, and both ends of the Angel were wrenched from Units 00 and 01, speeding into Unit-04's hand, which glowed briefly.

My orientation swiveled, and numerous alarms began going off as armor buckled and cracked under the changes Unit-04's form experienced as the Angels mass was absorbed, but I ignored them, concentrating on the distant feeling of being stuffed mentally, and trying to shove the mass I assumed was Armisael's soul into the empty core of my Eva.

"What are you doing!?" Dr. Akagi shrieked, before yelling at someone nearby to try an override me and destroy Unit-04. The changes, however, instigated by my new "save the pilots" policy rendered her orders moot, and I ignored them as I concentrated on the task at hand.

I could feel the indistinct mass slowly filtering into the barren core, and smiled to myself as I could faintly hear in the back of my head a feminine-sounding "Noooooo!!!" ring out through Unit-04.

Relaxing my mental hold for a moment, I realized that the empty core was actively absorbing the soul, without my intervention. Even when all the laws of physics had been ripped to shreds, nature still abhorred a vacuum. Just as I was beginning to relax, however, I felt Armisael reach out, and suddenly I was back in the LCL of her mind.

"You may have trapped me, traitor, but I will not go on alone. We will spend eternity together in the core of this abominat-" she paused, and I looked down to see that my form was fading out.

"No! This is impossible!" She cried, suddenly looking like a genuinely worried 20 year old, and less like the humanoid-representation of a truly alien-intellect.

"Your brothers didn't freak out when they died," I pointed out. Her anguished expression didn't abate. "They returned to the Host upon destruction... you are trapping me, forever, away from my home. Why couldn't you have just killed me like the others!" She shouted, visibly crying now.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, feeling a little sorry for her.

"Your pity is not wanted," she said, then scowled. "I may not have won, but I will not admit defeat so easily."

Suddenly, the LCL, which had been utterly calm moments before, flared up, until it was engulfing me up to my neck. Armisael approached, frowning for a moment before a bright light appeared in her hand, so bright it hurt to look at.

"You have taken from me my freedom, my duty, and my very home. In return, I take from you that final thread that connected you to the Lillim you so foolishly help." Without warning, she shoved the ball of light into my chest, the LCL between us parting to allow her easy access.

The pain was excruciating. Radiating out from the place her hand rested near my heart, white-hot tendrils of pain shot across my body and through it, and I know my screams were loud enough to wake the dead.

When the agony finally stopped, and I lay panting in the Entry Plug once more, every system but Life Support and Communications dead, I glanced at where a shocked and worried Makoto and Nabiki stood through the video link. "Next time," I said, between gasps, "I'm self-destructing." Then I let the darkness creeping in around the edges overwhelm me.

"-coming around?" I groaned. Indistinct voices spoke excitedly around me, and I cracked an eye, wincing in the bright lights before trying to cover my face. 'Trying' being the operative word, because my hands made it only so far before they were stopped.

"Wha..?" I mumbled, shifting my gaze. One, I was still female, and two, I was handcuffed to the bed. Actually, trying to sit up and finding similar restraints across my chest, I realized I was fully restrained.

"Makoto, I don't think now is the time to get kinky," I said, before finally opening my eyes and looking around the room.

"He seems normal," I heard Nabiki say.

"Umm, hello. A little help here?" I said, looking at her, before turning to look at Dr. Akagi and Makoto, all of whom were staring at me with worry evident on their faces.

"Kyle? Is it really you?" Makoto asked.

"Yeah, It's me. Could someone explain why I'm tied down? And maybe get me something to drink?" I asked, feeling just how dry my mouth and throat were.

Nabiki nodded and turned towards the door, and I fixed Dr. Akagi with a stare. "So, what's with the restraints? I didn't think my jokes were that bad."

"You... the last battle," Makoto started, then paused, before sighing, "Kyle, your Unit went berserk at the end of the battle."

Dr. Akagi spoke up then, "You damaged Unit 00 and 01, before tearing into everything around you. Only after issuing an emergency shutdown and forcibly ejecting the Entry Plug did Unit-04 stop."

I stared, wide-eyed, "and you think that was ME?" I asked, incredulously.

"Not at first," Nabiki said, as she entered with a cup of water. She handed it to Makoto, who stepped forward with it and gave me a sip.

I frowned at my inability to drink by myself, but there was little I could do about it at the moment, so I suffered the indignity of it, and finally waved her off with my eyes before turning back to Dr. Akagi; "well?"

"After we recovered you from the Entry Plug, we discovered some... changes..." she trailed off.

"I... I can still turn back, can't I?" I asked, wide-eyed. I didn't mind the curse like Ranma did, but that was because it was reversible. Was it still?

"Honestly, we haven't tried. We were worried about other things," Nabiki stated.

"Such as?" I inquired, sighing. At least I should be able to turn back.

"Your eyes... and... you..." Makoto trailed off, and I frowned.

Before I could demand an explanation, Dr. Akagi picked up for her, "Scans indicate you've grown an angelic core beside your heart. Further tests show it's active, and since then, we've recorded instances where it has briefly activated to supply your body with energy."

I blinked. "So... previously, I didn't have a core?" I asked.

"None that could be detected by sensors or tests both here or at NERV," Nabiki explained.

"And... this changes things how?" I continued, frowning again.

"We... the destruction caused by Unit 04 was either a berserk Eva... or a berserk pilot. When your core was discovered, we were no longer sure which one it was," Makoto said, before stepping forward and taking my hand in hers. I gave it a squeeze, looking her in the eye for a moment, before tuning to the Doctor.

"So... you tied me up to be safe?" she nodded, and I smirked, "And this whole wake-up conversation was to ascertain whether or not I was still myself?"

"Something like that," Nabiki said.

"So... can I go now?" I asked, looking down at the straps holding me in place.

"Do you promise to behave?" Makoto asked with a smirk.

I shrugged as best I could in my current situation, "no, but you never complained before..."

She smiled, before reaching over and releasing me. When I was finally free, I rubbed my wrists theatrically, despite the soft fuzzy liner on the cuffs that had held me down, before turning to the sink in the corner.

"Lets see," I mumbled, making my way across the room on shaky-legs. "How long have I been out?" I asked, frowning. They didn't feel too weakened, but they were far too unsteady for me to have been out for les than a day.

"A week," Makoto said, once again taking my hand as she moved to stand beside me.

"Oh," I replied softly, before getting a good look at my reflection. I was the same, mostly, though, as Makoto said, my eyes had changed. They were familiar, though, just not mine. Rei had eyes like that. As had Armisael. Now, too, did I, apparently.

"Hmm," I hummed, before turning and letting my wings out. There was a bit of shock, however, when instead of two feathered wings like I'd expected, a dozen glowing wings of light appeared, emerging from my back, side, shoulders, calves, and head. The majority of them had emerged from the same place my old ones had, three sets, but the shoulder-, calf-, and head-wings were decidedly new, and while I couldn't move them by will, they were apparently decorative.

"What happened," Makoto asked, looking back at them.

"What are you talking about?" Dr. Akagi asked.

"You can't _see _that?" Nabiki asked, staring at the doctor in surprise.

Ritsuko frowned, "See what? Nothing's changed."

"Kyle's wings are... umm... different," Nabiki retorted.

"What do you mean? I don't see anything," the doctor insisted, her frown deepening.

"Umm, there's a dozen of them. And they kind of migrated," I said, staring at them in the mirror for a moment more before willing them away. Instead of disappearing, the larger ones folded up in a way that eerily reminded me of a dying spider's legs, while the smaller ones sank back into my sides, like dying flames.

"Okay, that was in no way weird," Nabiki finally stated, breaking the silence.

"I don't understand... are you sure about what you saw?" The doctor said, looking frustrated now.

"Umm... Yeah." I replied, glancing at her in the mirror before turning on the hot water tap. After a moment, the water heated up, and I buried my hands in it, smirking as the feeling of change went through me, and I gained a few inches in height.

"I'm back," I replied with a grin, before frowning. I felt horrible. Gripping the edge of the sink weakly to hold myself up, I winced as I realized I was utterly starving. And my chest hurt.

"Kyle? What's wrong?" Makoto asked.

"I'm... hungry. What...?" I looked at Doctor Akagi in confusion after she gasped in apparent surprise.

"We took you off the IV when we realized your S2 Engine was feeding you... it apparently doesn't carry over to this form," she explained, before tossing her clipboard into a nearby chair and moving over towards me. "Help me get him back in bed. He needs to go on an IV and some food immediately," she explained, taking one arm while Makoto took the other. Nabiki left the room quickly, apparently to get the food or help, while they got me back in bed.

"Damn, I'm beginning to hate this room," I said weakly. The longer I was up, the worse I felt. And the pain in my chest wasn't helping, either.

"Doctor, my chest hurts," I said, rubbing the area the pain seemed to be coming from. Then I realized, it was the same place Armisael had touched me with that light. Behind the ribcage, where all the pain had been, before I passed out in Unit 04.

She stared, wide-eyed at where I was indicating, before diving across the room and returning with a wand and a packet of gel. Before I could protest, she tore my hospital gown away, earning a yelp of surprise from me and an indignant Makoto who quickly covered me up with the discarded sheets while glaring at Ritsuko.

The Doctor, however, didn't notice, merely squirting a bunch of the gel on my chest before rubbing the wand in it and turning to look at a monitor that had just activated. There was a familiar sound, and I realized finally that it was an ultrasound machine, though the image was far clearer than any I recall seeing before.

Still, despite the technology, my ribs took up a big portion of the screen, and it took a moment before she managed to find a spot that peered past them and into my chest proper, where a small spherical lump sat beside a pulsing mass I assumed was my heart.

"Is that..?" Makoto asked, and the Doctor nodded, a grimace on her face.

"It's smaller, I think, and I'm not certain, but it's probably inactive, since you're not gaining strength from it... but it's definitely your core."

"But why? Shouldn't that go away when he changes form?" Makoto asked a moment before Nabiki came back in, a bag in one hand, and another doctor wheeling in an IV-stand and a cart full of bags.

"Oh, goody," I spat eyeballing the metal rod with disdain as Dr. Akagi began to set it up. Nabiki, however, distracted me and my ire with her other acquisition, pulling a couple slices of pizza out of her bag with a flourish, and setting them in my lap before giving my exposed chest a quick glance. Makoto frowned at that, but said nothing as I took a towel and tried to wipe away the slimy gel Ritsuko had smeared on me before turning to her and asking for an explanation.

"Did the angel do anything while you were absorbing it into Unit-04?" she asked, after a moment's hesitation.

I nodded. "Umm, yeah, it shoved a ball of light into my chest which hurt like hell."

"Did it say what it was?" she immediately asked after.

"Yeah, she said it was..." I frowned, trying to remember. "Hmm... she was going to take from me the 'thread that connected me to my humanity,' or something to that effect."

Dr. Akagi sighed, "That's pretty vague. That all she said?" I nodded, and she continued, "I think she gave you a portion of her core... just enough to jump start yours; or, really, yours in your angelic form. But since it was foreign, and not part of your curse, the piece she gave you stays with you, even when you change back," she explained.

"Can you remove it?" Makoto asked, a hopeful expression on her face.

"Not likely. It's really in the thick of things. If all your experiencing is pain, then it's probably not pressing up against anything, but that entire area is full of critical parts. Your esophagus, and trachea, veins and arteries, lungs and heart... Most doctors don't go in there unless it's life-or-death, and that core is not much larger than a pacemaker..." She trailed off, frowning.

"What's wrong?" I asked, doing my best not to literally inhale the pizza as I did so figuratively.

"Well, there's another concern... if that piece compliments your angelic form's core and makes it complete... and your other core has been activated and is supplying you with power in that form, then removing that piece and then changing you to your angelic form might kill you," she explained.

"Well then, leave it in there," Nabiki said with finality. Makoto and I nodded in agreement.

"For now, that's what I'd suggest as well. There's a chance it might not... might even undo the changes you underwent... but for now, I'm inclined to believe they're not so easily reversed. I need to go consult the Magi if you want any certainty," she replied, taking a step towards the door.

"How's Unit-04?" I asked between bites, not quite ready to end the conversation.

"Whatever you did completed it. Like you, it has a functional S2 engine, though it's currently restrained and powered down. Since we weren't sure if it was you or the Eva, we had to restrain both. Now that I see you're back, I think it's safe to say that Armisael was the cause of Unit-04s rampage."

"Is she still..." I paused, wondering how to phrase it. Finally I shrugged, "coherent? Conscious, in there?"

"It will take some time to tell. That's one of the many things we have scheduled to test." She took another step towards the door, and I smirked.

"Thanks for the help, Doctor. Go have fun with your computers," I said, glancing down at the IV drip in my arm that she'd placed while I was eating. I'd barely felt her put it in.

"I'll do my best," she mumbled, before disappearing out the door.

"So," I said, staring at the bag Nabiki had set down on the corner table, "got any more pizza in there?"

---------

Right. That's IT. NASIF 4 is DONE. Next on the Agenda: NASIF: EoE. I'll leave it to you all to speculate as to what, exactly, that means, before I release it.

Of course, it's going to take a while to write. I know how it is going to begin, and end, and certain scenes that will happen in the middle.. but I'm aiming for a 2-part, lengthy, entertaining bit of writing that will require a bit more work than a NASIF chapter usually does. Ideally, I'm thinking large in length, like a novella, but realistically, I can't, without going off on a lot of tangents, really see myself going longer than 100 pages, though I'll try to make it big and fun, like always.

Once more, thanks to Parker and Nate, who's pre-reading and commentary have helped keep me grounded, and my fics reasonable readable.


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